Legacy of Chaos
by Dictator Hiyasha
Summary: Darian, a girl from another world, is transported to the medieval realm of Fire Emblem. Along with a small band of newly made friends, she must discover the reason as to why she was brought to that world in the first place. FE: the Sacred Stones
1. A New World

**((Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem. If I did, I wouldn't be writing a Fan fiction about it.))**

**CHAPTER 1: A NEW WORLD**

"Hello?"

_I heard someone. Were they talking to me? All I could see was darkness. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not..._

"Are you alright?"

_I couldn't recognize the voice. Who was the person talking to me?_

"Wake up!"

I forced my eyes open. I was lying on the ground and hovering above me was a man with short blonde hair. He wore red armor that carried many scratches. I could tell, he had seen many battles. Standing next to him was a fairly large red dragon. That startled me a little. As I glanced around, I saw that I was standing the middle of a clearing. A dense forest surrounded all sides of us, indicating that I was far from civilization.

"Are you alright, Miss?" He asked me.

"I think so..." I replied nervously as I forced myself to my feet. I kept glancing at his dragon cautiously. "Where am I?"

"Right in front of Grado's boarders. What happened to you?"

"I'm not sure." I admitted sheepishly wondering what 'Grado' was.

"What's your name?"

I thought for a second. My memory was foggy and I couldn't seem to recall anything. But luckily, one word repeated in my mind.

_...Darian..._

"My name is Darian." I said to him.

"Darian..." The man repeated. "That's a nice name."

_Aw, how sweet of him_.

"My name is Glen." He said. "I'm a general of Grado. I'm also known as, the Sunstone."

"And what's that?" I asked as I pointed to the red dragon next to him.

"Oh, this is my wyvern." He replied casually, as if owning a dragon wasn't something out of the ordinary.

_What's going on?_ I asked myself. _What is this place? It's like I'm in a different world. _Nothing seemed right. My mind was so hazy and I couldn't seem to remember much at all. The faces of people I once knew were no longer in my consciousness. I could only remember bits and pieces from my past and none of it looked like the place I was standing in now.

_Is this a dream? _I wondered. _That's it! It's all just a dream…_ I really wanted to believe that, but something deep within me told me otherwise.

"Well, Darian, what kingdom are you from?" He asked me.

I shrugged and said, "I don't know..."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I don't remember anything."

Glen looked thoughtful at me. "Could you have amnesia?"

I didn't say anything. Could you blame me for feeling a little freaked out by all of this?

"Do you know how old you are?" Glen asked.

"Sixteen." I replied.

"Most people that have amnesia can't recall their age." Glen explained. "Seeing that you can, I'm going to guess that you don't have amnesia."

"Well...I think I kinda do." I replied. "I don't remember much at all. But I do know this; I'm not from any kingdom here. I don't think I'm even from this continent."

"Really?" He asked. "Where are you from then?"

"...Another world..?" I replied, almost questioning the words coming out of my mouth. He continued to stare at me, obviously unconvinced with my theory.

"I know it's a bit hard to believe." I said. "But it's the truth." Then I remembered about my MP3 player in my pocket. Seeing that this place looked to be a medieval world, he would have no idea what the device was. I pulled it out and showed it to him. "See this? It's an item from my world. I bet you don't have anything like it here."

He shook his head, but now he seemed even more surprised than before. "No. We don't. You've showed me your proof. But I want to know this; why are you here?"

Heck, I wish I knew the answer to that. "I just magically woke up here." I explained.

There was an awkward silence between the two of us for a moment. Then he let out a sigh. "I'm sorry to say but, I can't protect you. You won't be safe anywhere right now. We're in the middle of a war. My kingdom is trying to kill the twins of Renais and defeat the army that both are trying to build. The most I can do for you now is to take you to a village where you can stay for the time being, but I cannot guarantee your safety."

"It's all right." I said. "I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me."

He helped me onto his wyvern and he flew me to the nearest village. The flight was amazing. I was really flying on the back of a dragon! That's right reader; feel envious of my adventures!

"Is this your first ride on a wyvern?" Glen asked me.

"I think so." I replied. "I don't recall dragons existing in my world."

"But then again, you don't remember much of anything." He said. He turned back to me and gave a faint smile. Up till that point, he had kept such a stern face that I thought the guy couldn't smile. He shifted his attention back to steering his wyvern.

"I still don't feel this war is right." He said, the seriousness in his tone returning. "Our king, Vigarde, has changed so much in such a short period of time. We've killed the ruler of Renais. The kingdom is in shambles. Why did Emperor Vigarde even start this war in the first place? I just don't understand any of this..."

A few minutes later, we landed in front of the gates of a small village that was in the middle of a forest. He helped me off his wyvern and the two of us stared at each other for a long while. It's not every day a knight meets a girl from another world. And it sure isn't every day I wake up in some random world for reasons unknown.

"Glen." I finally spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Thanks a lot."

"No problem. Take care of yourself, Darian." He hopped back onto his wyvern and flew away.

"Now what do I do?" I quietly asked myself. "I should have asked that guy for a map."

Just then, something from the distance caught my eye. It was a group of travelers. The one leading them was a young woman with long blue hair, gold armor and a red skirt. I figured I might as well ask for directions.

"Um, excuse me." I said to her. "Can you tell me where I am? I'm kinda lost."

"Well, you're right in the middle of Za'ha Woods." the woman replied.

"Za'ha woods?" I asked, chuckling a little.

A man with short red hair walked over to us. He wore armor and I could immediately tell he was a knight. "Is there something funny?" He asked sternly.

"Yeah, I'm just laughing at the odd names of the places here." I replied.

"Well, you now know where you are, so move aside so the rest of us can pass." The knight said. "Unlike you, we have important matters to tend to."

"Who says that I don't have important matters to take care of either?" I retorted. "Unlike you, who probably know this place like the back of your hand, I happen to be a stranger here with no memories of my home. And unlike you, I have no idea where I'm going and just want to find a way back to my world."

"What are you talking about?" The woman asked. "What do you mean "your world"?"

"I come from another world. Plain and simple. I woke up here and have no real memories of my home."

"You speak nonsense." The knight said. "Lady Eirika, we have wasted enough time here. We must hurry forward."

"But, we can't just leave her here, Seth." Eirika argued.

"I have proof." I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my MP3 player. I handed it to her to let her examine. "Bet you don't have anything like this here."

"What is it?" She asked as she looked it over.

"It's a music player." I held up the two ear buds. "Put these in your ears and I'll show you."

She did so and I turned the music device on. I played a song for her and she quickly yanked the ear buds out of her ears. She looked horrified by the device. "You-You do come from another world."

"These things are pretty common back where I come from. It's not something to be scared of." I assured her. "But I had to prove to you that I wasn't lying."

Just then, a boy with spiky dark green hair ran over to us. He looked pale and scared to death. "Eirika! There's some weird creature about to attack us!" He shouted.

We turned to see a monster that looked like a flying eyeball. I would have laughed at how stupid it looked, but it launched lasers at us from its eye. We ducked out of the way just in time to avoid its attack. Six other creatures just like that appeared and sided with the first one. I turned to my left to see strange wolves that had red fur and the main of a lion. They snarled at us and howled loudly. I turned to my right to see decaying zombie's coming after us. What was going on?

"You, girl," Seth called.

"My name's not "you" or "girl". My name is Darian." I corrected.

"Darian, how good are you with a weapon?" He asked.

"I have no idea."

He tossed me an iron axe and rushed over to attack the monsters. "We can't look after you. I'm sorry to say, but you're just going to have to defend yourself."

One of the eyeball monsters floated close to me. He prepared to launch another laser attack at me, but I slashed him in the eye before he could. The monster shrieked in pain and fell dead on the ground.

"How lovely." I said sarcastically as I charged for another monster. I attacked one of the zombies with my axe. The creature was slow and clumber some. Taking that guy down was no issue. Either I was good, or these guys sucked.

I then attacked one of the wolves. I might as well keep up my winning streak, besides, how hard could a little doggy be? Well, a lot harder than he looks. I swung my axe but the wolf evaded my attack with little ease. He jumped up and tried to bite me. Just then, the spiky haired kid from earlier dropped an axe on the mutt's head. The wolf collapsed to the ground. I guessed it was dead after it stopped twitching.

"Are you going to join our group?" The boy asked.

"I guess so..." I replied with uncertainty.

"Great! The name's Ross. Welcome aboard, Darian!" He returned to fight the monsters that continuously attacked. And so the killing spree continued. We fought for about a half an hour until all the monsters were dead. I racked up about seven monsters that day. I was quite proud of myself. I had no idea if I ever fought any enemies with a weapon in my world, but I had to say, I surprised myself with my sudden skill.

When the battle ended, I walked over to Eirika and Seth and asked, "I don't mean to impose, but could I stick with you guys for a while?"

Eirika looked at Seth with a worried expression and then she said, "We're in the middle of a war. You'd have to fight a lot more than you did today."

"It doesn't bother me." I replied. "I don't have anywhere else to go."

"I don't think it will do any harm to let her come along." Seth said. "She handled herself quiet well today. With a little training, she could turn into a seasoned warrior."

Maybe this Seth guy wasn't as bad as I thought he was. He turned out to be really nice, actually. And so, I joined this large group of warriors. Once everyone was ready, we began the march. Eirika and Seth talked with me as we walked.

"We need to tell you what's going on." Eirika said. "You see, we're in the middle of a war. This all began when--"

"I was already filled in on the details about the war not long ago." I replied.

"Really?" Seth asked. "By who?"

"His name was Glen." I said. "I think he said that he was a general in the Grado army. But he told me about how they took down this Renais kingdom."

"I see..." Eirika said thoughtfully. "Did he say anything else?"

"Actually, he told me he was against this war. He said that he felt that what his kingdom was doing was wrong. He seemed pretty depressed. He also said that the twins of Renias were still on the loose and they were building up an army. I Sure wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now."

"Um...Darian?" Eirika said.

"Yes?"

"We are the Renais army. I'm one of the twins Glen spoke of."

My jaw dropped and I could just barely mutter "I'm sorry." I felt pretty bad for what I had said.

"It's alright," She said. "You didn't know."

"Yeah, but I should still watch what I say." I said in an apologetic tone. "But, who's the other Renais twin and where are they?"

"My brother, Ephraim, is currently leading a small army into Grado."

"That's dangerous. Your brother must be very courageous."

She nodded. "I just pray that he's alright."

I knew that this subject must be pretty hard on her. I could tell that she was really worried about her brother. But I just couldn't think of anything to say. I only knew Eirika for a short time. I wasn't sure what I could say to cheer her up.

"Darian, you're from another world." Seth said. "What's your world like?"

"I'll tell you what I can remember, but my memory is really foggy." I said. Actually, I knew more than I thought I did. I could remember going to school on a daily basis, but I couldn't remember my friends, teachers, or fellow students. I told them about cars, planes, televisions and computers. I could remember video games, although I couldn't come up with any of the names of them.

"Your world seems much different than ours..." Eirika said.

Not much else happened after that. We talked for some time until we began to notice that it was getting dark.

"Princess, it's about time we set up camp." Seth noted.

Eirika agreed and so the troops were halted and told to rest up for the night. Everyone set up tents and began to disperse into small groups to talk amongst each other. I felt left out. The only ones I knew were Eirika and Seth and I didn't want to bother them any more, and they were talking about some important battle stuff. I didn't want to get in the way. I knew that it was about time to make some friends.

...But...everyone looked so serious. I was a little intimidated to talk to anyone. I walked about aimlessly until I found two people talking together. One was a girl with short pink hair and the other was a boy with blue hair tied back into a pony tail. They both appeared to be my age so I figured I could be friends with them.

"Um, can I sit with you guys?" I asked them nervously.

"No, go away." The blue haired boy said.

The girl shot him a glare and said, "Of course you can. Are you new to the army?"

I nodded.

"Great, so are we." She said, smiling. "My name's Neimi and this is my friend, Colm."

Colm gave a little wave and friendly grin.

I waved back. "The name's Darian." I sat down beside Neimi. "You guys don't look like soldiers. How'd you end up here?" I asked.

"Well...I'm not exactly sure." Neimi said. "It just sort of happened. You see, Colm here stole Princess Eirika's bracelet and the army went to find him. I was looking for him too and found out he went to the hideout of some bandits that destroyed our village. They had taken my mirror from me and he went to go steal it back from them."

Colm folded his arms. "You mess with my friends and you're messing with me. And I don't play fair!"

Neimi smiled and continued on with her story. "I met up with Eirika and her team and I asked them to help me find Colm. We went to the bandits hideout and found him. Then we defeated the bandits and their leader, and we stuck with the army after that."

"Did you get your mirror back?" I asked.

"Well, duh she got her mirror back!" Colm said, sounding almost offended. "Colm, the master thief, got it back for her. That's what happens when you give me a job; guaranteed results! Oh, by the way..." He said as he held out my MP3. "What the heck is this thing?"

I searched my pockets and found nothing in them. "When did you--"

"I told you, I'm a master thief," He said proudly. "Now, what is thing?"

"It's an MP3." I replied.

"What the heck's an empeethree?"

"It plays music."

"Music?" He said excitedly. "I want to listen to some music!"

I took the music player from him and put the headphones into his ears. I turned the device on and played the first song on my play list. He gave this bewildered look and stared at me.

"I've never heard music like this before." He said. "It's...catchy."

Colm took out one of the ear buds in order to hear us but kept the other one in so he could keep listening to the song. "You need to give this guy a better name." He said. "Empeethree is an ugly name."

"It doesn't have a name." I said. "It's an inanimate object. It doesn't get a name."

"You should name him Roy." Colm said. "Roy's a good name."

I shook my head. "I'm not going to name it."

"How about Hector?" Colm kept going.

"What if it's a girl?" Neimi asked. "You can't name it a boy's name if it's a girl."

"Your right." Colm said. "How about the name Mia, or Beelzebub?"

"Umm...Beelzebub isn't a girl's name." She replied. "What about Micaiah?"

"Yeah, Micaiah's a nice name."

I smacked my fore head. "The thing doesn't have a gender."

"Oh! Then in that case, anything could work." Colm said. "We should give it a really cool and powerful sounding name. How about Shabranigdo?"

Neimi gave him a confused look. "No one would be able to remember that."

"How about Eliwood?"

"I like the name Ike."

Colm snickered a little. "That's a stupid name. That's about as bad as Empeethree."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"I'm not going to name it Ike or Eliwood!" I shouted.

"I thought you said you weren't going to name it at all." Colm, replied.

I closed my mouth and decided that it would be best to let them come up with something.

"What about Marth? That's a cool name." Colm said.

Neimi nodded. "I like that name."

I sighed. "Marth will do."

And that's the tale of how my MP3 obtained its name and how I met my first two best friends in this mysterious world that I would journey through. But why was I here? What brought me to this world in the first place? Hopefully, the answers would come to me in time...


	2. Battle At Serafew

**CHAPTER 2: BATTLE AT SERAFEW**

"We'll be arriving at Serafew shortly," Seth said as we approached a little town. I turned to Colm and Neimi and pointed to the many Grado soldiers that were walking about the streets of Serafew. "How do you suppose we get through this town?" I asked them.

"Simple," Colm said without a care in his voice. "We're a mercenary group and we're passing through. They should believe that."

"I hope so." Neimi said.

We stood there and watched as Seth and Eirika talked to each other.

"There sure are a lot of soldiers here." She said.

"It's going to be hard to convince them that we're a mercenary group." Seth added.

"What? How come?" Colm asked.

"There's too many of us." he replied. "We look more like a small army than a group of mercenaries."

Colm shrugged. "It's worth a try, isn't it?"

Just then, a woman with long blond hair who was wearing white robes ran over to us. Then we saw that she was being chased by some of the Grado soldiers.

"Catch the traitor!" They cried out as they ran after her.

The girl saw our group and ran over to us. "W-who are you?" She asked.

"We're from Renais. Why are these soldiers after you?" Eirika asked.

The girl seemed pleased by this. "You must hear me out. It's about Grado-"

The soldiers were getting closer and their numbers were large. "We'll have to talk later. Now we must fight!" Eirika said.

"What's your name, miss?" Seth asked.

"Natasha." She replied.

"We'll help you," Eirika said. "Just stay close to us."

She thanked them and ran behind them. We watched as more soldiers gathered.

"Hand over the cleric." One of them said.

"No," Seth said valiantly. "I'm not sure what she's done, but chasing a defenseless woman like this is inexcusable."

"Then we'll just have to kill you too." The soldier said menacingly. He motioned for the other soldiers to charge at us. We drew our weapons and fought against them.

Seth pointed to the other side of the battlefield to a knight with heavy red armor. "That must be their leader. If we are to kill him then we should be able to win this battle."

"Darian, Colm, Neimi," Eirika called us. We turned our attention to her and she said, "Watch over Natasha. Can I count on you three to do that?"

"You bet, Princess." I said.

"We won't let you down." Neimi said proudly.

Eirika smiled and joined Seth as they charged at some of the Grado soldiers.

I stared at the soldier with the heavy red armor that Seth had pointed to. I wondered if Colm, Neimi, and I were possibly strong enough to fight him. I doubted it. After all, he wouldn't be the leader if he was some push over. I had only been in one battle previously and Colm and Neimi were just normal citizens with no proper training before they had joined the army.

"Darian, let's go!" Colm said impatiently. "We've got some soldiers to smack around." He charged at one of them who had an axe. Colm's quick movements and sharp knife made an easy kill against the slow axe man. I chopped away at the enemy soldiers repeatedly with my axe and Neimi shot them down with precisely aim arrows.

I must admit, we were a fearsome trio and we make great body guards too. Just then, a swordsman charged at me and started slashing away at me. I jumped back, but he still managed to slice my arm pretty badly with his sword. I took a good look at my opponent. He had long red hair and wore a grey jacket with a matching grey hat to go with it.

Just then, I felt something. It was a feeling of non-hostility and I only had that feeling when I looked at the swordsman. I turned away from him, and the feeling was gone. I turned to him again, and the feeling returned.

We stared each other down for the longest time. Then, he sheathed his sword and began to slowly back away. "Where do you think you're going?!" I demanded.

"I don't like to fight women." He said simply. "Leaves a bad taste in my mouth besides, you aren't my target."

"Why? You think I'm not good enough?! You better not underestimate me just because I'm a girl!"

He shook his head. "Sorry, it's just not my style."

I gripped my axe tightly in my hand. "Alright, now you have no choice but to fight me!" I shouted. I swung my axe at him in a blind rage. He swiftly dodged each stroke but I finally managed to slash him across his chest. It turned out to be a minor cut but I still got my point across.

He turned to Natasha. "I'm supposed to be after her." He said.

"Too bad, you're not going to get to her." I replied.

"Now I'm even more disgusted." He moaned. "I have to kill such a beautiful cleric."

"You're...you're the man I met before." Natasha said.

"You two know each other?" Colm asked.

She nodded. "I met him before I was chased by the Grado soldiers."

"It wasn't much of an encounter." the man added. He reached into his pockets and pulled out a gold coin. He then walked past me and approached the cleric.

Neimi took aim at him with her bow and Colm stayed close by her side, his knife held tightly in his hand.

"How about a little wager?" The mercenary asked as he pulled out a coin.

"A wager?" Natasha seemed completely bewildered.

"If you win, I join you guys." He explained. "But if I win..."

"You kill me?"

"Sorry, but I do have a job to do."

"Why would I take up such a gambol?"

"Mainly because I have more experience than your three companions, and could easily take them out in the blink of an eye."

"You wish!" I snarled.

"Your bark is a lot worse than your bite, little axe wielder." He snapped back. "And besides, wouldn't you rather take the opportunity to add on another soldier to your ranks? Or would you rather me get the job done now?"

Natasha thought hard over this but she finally said with a forlorn expression, "I'll accept your wager." When I watched Natasha, a new feeling came to me; Fear. She was scared, terrified with the thought of wagering her life on a coin toss. And that feeling only came to me when I looked at Natasha.

The myrmidon smiled. "Alright, now tell your body guards to stand back. The last thing I want is to get chopped up when my guard is down."

We hesitated at first but Natasha motioned for us to move back. We reluctantly did so, but Neimi still had her bow aimed at him.

"Call it in the air, heads or tails?" The mercenary said as he flipped the gold coin.

"Heads...No, tails!" Natasha shouted.

The myrmidon let the coin fall to the ground. The coin showed tails. Natasha let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, looks like I'm on your side." He said, but he didn't seem too saddened by his lose. "The name's Joshua. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Now, you kids had better get behind me. I'll watch out for you."

"I can take care of myself." I hissed. I was still angry with him for underestimating me.

"That's fine. Just don't hit one of us with your crazed axe strokes." He replied mockingly.

This guy was making me really mad but there was nothing I could do about it right now. I decided to take my anger out on the soldiers before me. The others ran head of me, which gave the enemy opportunity to take on a lone warrior, such as myself.

I was soon surrounded by a group of recruits. I knew I could take down two of them at the same time, these guys were poorly trained but there were at least six of them. Not good odds for me. I held them off as best I could, but they greatly outnumbered me.

Just then, a light spell quickly engulfed them before they could finish me off. The spell killed two of them but managed to distract the rest of them. Then, a blast of fire shot out at them and consumed the rest in the flames. The attack was launched only inches away from me and singed a few strands of my hair. Startled, I fell over and watched the last four be burned to a crisp.

I turned to see who had used the attacks. I saw a man with curly orange hair and white robes and a girl with purple hair and purple robes walk over to me. The man held out his hand and helped me stand.

"Thanks." I said.

"You're welcome." The man replied. "My name is Artur, and this is Lute." He said as he pointed to the girl next to him. "What's your name, miss?"

"I'm Darian." I replied. Looking at these two, yet another feeling came over me. Kindness, friendship. Why were these things coming to me when I look at people. Were they forewarnings of some sort? Or was it something else?

I turned my attention back on the battlefield. Few enemy soldiers remained. All that was left was take care of their leader, the red armored knight. When I looked at the knight, I felt something. Anger, hatred, greed. I thought for a moment, and then I realized something. Could it be that I was able to sense other's emotions?

It didn't matter. The Knight was our enemy and had to be taken care of. I charged for him. I'm not sure what possessed me to do this. I knew my level of fighting experience was far below his, but that didn't stop me. I held out my axe and began viciously swinging it at him.

"Enemy of the empire! Death is too good for you!" The knight shouted.

"Oh, shut up!" I said as I hacked away at him. His heavy armor barely dented at my attacks. I was beginning to regret my decision. A blast of light was launched at the enemy and seemed to weaken him greatly.

Artur stood next to me, his spell book in hand. Lute was also with him. "You don't need to fight him alone." He said.

An arrow shot at the knight but it was deflected off of his armor. I saw Neimi and Natasha rush over to us. Neimi shot another arrow but the same thing happened again. It was only deflected by the armor. Colm charged at the knight and slashed at him with his knife, but the weapon barely scratched the armor's surface.

Joshua joined the thief in the attack but wasn't having much luck either. The knight thrust his lance into them but the two were fast enough to evade the attack. They pulled back and rejoined us.

"Does anyone have a plan?" Joshua asked.

I racked my brain for a few minutes but I managed to come up with a decent strategy. "Listen up." I said. "Joshua, Colm, and I will charge the enemy dead on. Neimi, Lute, Artur, I want you guys to back us up with your long range attacks. Natasha, heal us if we get hurt. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded and me, Colm, and Joshua charged forward. We hacked away at him with our weapons but still, nothing was working. The knight thrust his lance right into Joshua's shoulder. Me and Colm grabbed him and pulled him out of the fray. Natasha healed him with her staff while Artur released another light spell, and Lute used a fire spell.

Neimi shot arrows at him. The magic attacks and the arrows seemed to help crack the armor. I leaped into the air and brought my axe down on the knight's chest. The armor broke and my axe made a direct hit against his flesh. The knight moaned and then collapsed to the ground. Needless to say, the guy was dead. I pulled my axe out of him and rejoined my little group.

Seth walked over to us and seemed impressed by our fight. "I see you were able to defeat their leader. Good work."

Eirika joined us as well. "That was a tight spot."

"Yes, I thank you all for your help." Natasha said as she glanced at everyone.

"Yeah, no prob, but why were those guys after you?" I asked.

"I was a servant of the people at Grado's Imperial Temple." Natasha explained. "My mentor was arrested and executed for being a traitor. Those were lies and false accusations. They only killed him to keep him silent. He told me with his dying breath that the Emperor is going to destroy the Sacred Stones!"

"That's awful!" I exclaimed. "He can't do that! The Sacred Stones, they're...they're..." I turned to my little group and whispered, "What are the Sacred Stones?" I realized that I had absolutely no idea what I was shouting about before. I do that sometimes.

"You're hopeless, aren't you Darian?" Colm said.

"The Sacred Stones are what drove back the evil from our lands." Artur explained. "They're also what sealed the Demon King away centuries ago."

"Cool. What's a Demon King?" I asked.

"The Demon King is a creature of evil and chaos who is said to be the one who created the monsters that are now roaming our land." Lute explained. I was surprised. She hadn't spoken at all before. "And according to ancient documents, he is extremely powerful and could ravage the continent in only mere seconds. The only things that can stop him are the five Sacred Stones. Each Stone is housed in a different kingdom; Renais, Grado, Frelia, Jehanna, and Rausten. As long as the Sacred Stones remain, we have no reason to worry of the Demon King."

"Wow..." I said. "I didn't catch half of that but I'll just nod my head and pretend to understand." But there was one thing I did get. We couldn't let those Sacred Stones be destroyed. That meant that we'd have to defend them at all costs.

* * *

What a day! First I discovered that I could read people's emotions, then we recruited some jerky myrmidon, then we defeated a really powerful knight. As if the day wasn't eventful enough, that night I had the oddest dream. I felt like I was in a black void of some sort. It was dark and I couldn't see a thing. I called out for someone, anyone. Just then, the figure of a woman with long golden hair and a pretty blue and white dress appeared before me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Cathriana." The woman said. "How are you faring in this world, Darian?"

"Um...Pretty good I guess."

"You seem confused about something."

I nodded. "Really confused. What are you?"

"I am a guardian deity that watches over this world. I was the one who summoned you here."

She brought me here? This is perfect, I can get all the answers I need right now! "Why? Why did you summon me of all people?" I asked

"Darian, You're destiny in this world is to--" She was cut off as she began to disappear. "Wait!" I cried out. "Answer my question!"

Then I woke up. I thought about what I had just dreamt of. Was that some sort of vision or was it just some weird dream? I wasn't sure if I should disregard it or not. It was my only lead as to why I was here in the first place. Besides I shouldn't question the wisdom of a deity even if they are rude and leave in the middle of a conversation.


	3. Arachnophobia

**CHAPTER 3: ARACHNOPHOBIA**

_"Ephraim has already fallen before the empire's might." The Grado shaman said. "As we speak he wastes away in a cell in Renvall, meekly awaiting his execution."_

_"My brother?!" Erikia demanded. "A pitiful worm like you could never defeat my brother!"_

_"Protest all you like. It doesn't change the truth. Ephraim has lost and it was Grado that defeated him!"_

The shaman had then grabbed a child who was a citizen of Renais and used her as a hostage in order to get Eirika to surrender her bracelet. Eirika gave it to him but then he demanded that we lay down all our weapons. We refused, of coarse, so he teleported the kid and her parents in the middle of the Adlas Plains, where a big monster was said to live. And that's how this little battle got started.

The Adlas Plains were vast and a deep fog loomed over it, making it nearly impossible for us to move around. It also caused me, Joshua, Colm, Neimi, and Natasha to get separated from the others. Now we were wondering about the area aimlessly, attempting to find the rest of the army. Colm seemed to have the best eye sight in the fog, so we made him lead.

"This sucks." I said. "We take our eyes off the army for two seconds and the next thing you know; POOF! They're gone."

"Hey, Darian," Colm said to me. "Can I listen to Marth for a while?"

I was appalled by this. "No! You can't listen to my MP3 in the middle of the battlefield!"

"First of all, his name is Marth." Colm corrected me. "Empeethree is a stupid name. Second of all, I'm really bored. We haven't even run into any enemies."

"I don't care if you're bored. You can't be distracted in the middle of a fight."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No." This went on for a bit until finally he gave up and didn't argue with me anymore.

Joshua turned to Natasha and asked, "Natasha, want to make a bet?"

"A bet? Right here in the middle of a battle?" She seemed quite confused. "What do you intend on betting on?"

"That you're going to fall for me sooner or later. I'm betting yes, personally."

"Now's not the time to hit on someone, Joshua." I said.

"That's right." Natasha agreed in a sort of angry tone.

I had began to notice that some of my companions were not taking this fight seriously. It was something that I would later get used to.

"I think I see someone!" Colm exclaimed. He pointed into the distance. At first I couldn't see anything, but as we began to get closer, I could see the silhouettes of three people. Soon, I saw that it was the three Renais citizens. We rushed over to them. I suppose getting lost was a good thing after all.

"Are you ok?" Neimi asked.

The little girl was crying. "It's coming." She said, her voice shaky from her weeping.

"What's coming?" Colm asked.

"The monster."

We heard heavy foot steps behind us. We turned to see a creature emerge from the fog. It was a giant red spider.

"SP-SP-SP-SPIDER!!" I cried out. I fell back and gazed in horror at it. I was trembling from the sight of the huge insect.

"Don't tell me," Colm said. "You have a fear of spiders?"

I nodded. I was an arachnophobic of sorts. "I hate spiders." I mumbled.

"Looks like we're going to have to take care of this one." Joshua said as he drew his blade. "That thing's called a Bael and it's said that it secretes a sort of venom in it's fangs."

"I hate spiders." I said again.

"We know, Darian. You don't have to fight it." Joshua assured me.

"I really hate spiders."

"I know, we heard you the first time."

I let out a sort of roar, grabbed my axe and began bashing the creature's head in while screaming; "I HATE SPIDERS!! I HATE THEM! I HATE THEM! I HAAAATE THEEEEMMM!!" A few whacks later, my battle cry changed to; "DIE!! DIE!! DIE!! DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE!!" The creature was screeching in pain. It tried to push me away with two of its eight legs, but I chopped off any of the appendages that got in the range of my axe. I think I might have been scaring my friends a little.

After a long while, Neimi put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Darian, the thing's dead. You can stop chopping it up now."

"No!" I shouted. "I want to make sure I kill this thing good!"

"It's dead. It's been dead about twenty whacks ago. That kid over there is going to be scarred for life if you keep this up."

"I want to hit it a few more times in the head to make sure it's dead."

"It is. Trust me. There isn't a head left to hit."

I stared at the gruesome sight I caused. I may have arachnophobia, but I'm extremely violent around spiders.

Joshua walked over to the small family and said, "I'm sorry for that. My friend tends to be a little...insane at times."

"It's...fine..." The mother said. It was obvious she was surprised by my assault on the dumb beast.

"Any way, you three had better stick close to us." He continued. "We'll get you to safety.

The family thanked us and Colm began to lead us once more through the thick fog. "Hey guys. Next time we see a bael, we'll let Darian annihilate the thing." Colm said with a snicker. The others giggled.

"You mean let her go psycho again?" Joshua asked with a big grin on his face.

"If that's how she kills the big ones, I don't want to know how she kills the small, regular ones." Neimi chimed in.

"I actually feel sorry for the poor bael." Natasha added.

I was getting fed up with their jokes. "Alright alright." I said. "I know. I got a little carried away back there."

"A little?" The four simultaneously said.

I sighed. _Why do I bother defending myself again? _As we traveled, I saw some figures in the distance. We cautiously moved closer, the last thing we needed to do was run into a group of enemies or another bael. Not that the bael was a big deal to my friends. They'd just let me take care of it, just like the first one. I don't think they'll ever let me live that down...

"Isn't that Seth?" Colm asked. "Hey it is! He's fighting someone."

"Who's he fighting?" Natasha asked.

"I think...It is! It's the shaman!"

We got close enough to watch Seth give the finishing blow. The rest of the army was with him as well. Artur walked over to us. "Where were you guys?" He asked.

"Lost." I replied. "Hopelessly lost. But we managed to save the three citizens."

"And watch Darian massacre a bael." Colm added with a smirk.

"Hush, Colm. So did we miss anything?" I asked.

"The battle." Artur replied simply

* * *

The three citizens we saved returned home safely and we started the march once more. The fog was starting to fade away, making our journey through the plains easier. Evening was approaching, and I felt myself become gradually tired. As we walked, Ross ran up to me and said, "Hey, Darian. How are you holding up?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" I replied.

"You use an axe, right?"

"I do. Why?"

"Let's spar together! I need someone to practice with." He took out his hatchet and positioned himself into a sort of battle stance.

"How about after we halt the march for the night?" I said. "It would be pretty hard to spar when you're trying to keep up with everyone.

Not like we had to wait that long. It was only a short while later that we stopped to set up camp for the night. Ross found me and the two of us spared with each other. I didn't take him seriously since he's just a kid. I was at least three or four years older than him.

I hate to admit this as much as Colm refuses to admit that he has an anger management issue, but I lost horribly against him. That's right, I got my butt kicked by a twelve-year-old. Needless to say, my self-esteem was shot the rest of the night.

"Same time tomorrow?" He asked, proud as can be with his victory.

"Er...Sure." I said.

"Try not to suck next time." He said as he walked away.

When I got back to the campsite, I saw all my friends sitting around a campfire while eating a soup of some sort. I noticed after the past few days that our group expanded a bit. The little camp originally consisted of me, Colm, and Neimi. Later on we were joined by Joshua, Natasha, Artur, and Lute. I sat down between Neimi and Lute, and Neimi handed me my bowl of food which I began to devour.

"How did sparing with Ross go?" Artur asked.

I made the horrible mistake of being honest. "I lost."

"You're kidding, right?" Joshua asked.

I shook my head.

"That's just pathetic." Wow! He knows how to make me feel like crap. "Alright, looks like we're going to have to whip you into shape." Joshua said.

"What?"

"From now on, after you train with Ross, you're going to train with me."

"Spar with two people in one night?! I'll be too beat the next morning."

"You want to live through this war? Then you had better toughen up."

"But what if I don't want to spar with you?"

Joshua pulled out a coin from his pocket. "How about a bet. If I win, you have to spar with me. If you win, you can do whatever."

"Why would I bet with you?" I asked. "You'll just cheat."

He looked hurt by what I had said. "I would never cheat against my friends! Don't you trust me?"

Honestly, I didn't. But he said he wouldn't so I figured I might as well humor him a little. "Sure. I'll accept your wager."

"Call it in the air." He said as he tossed up the coin.

"Heads." I said.

He caught the coin and opened his palm to reveal which side it was. "It's tails." He said with a dark grin on his face. "Too bad. Looks like you and I are training partners."

I tossed my bowl aside and laid down on the ground. I had a sense of defeat as I stared at the night sky. The stars shined beautifully.

"That constellation...Isn't that Leo?" Natasha asked as she pointed to the sky.

"I think so." Colm agreed. He tilted his head a little and pointed to another group of stars. "There's Scorpius."

I was surprised. Their constellations were the same as the ones from my world. I could at least remember some of the constellations. One of the few memories that survived. I pointed to some of the stars. "That's Draco." I said. "The dragon."

"Hmm... I've always wondered what the stars are." Joshua said.

"Little glowing dots in the sky." Colm answered. "That's all they are."

"I always thought that the stars were other worlds." Neimi said.

"I wonder which one is my world." I murmured softly.

"Are you feeling home sick, Darian?" Artur asked.

I shrugged. "I can't really say. I don't have any real memories of my life. I don't really know if I should be home sick or not." I let out a yawn and realized just how tired I was.

"Well, good night guys." I said as I turned to my side and fell asleep.


	4. Break Through the Gates

**CHAPTER 4: BREAK THROUGH THE GATES!**

We arrived at Renvall early that morning. The area was heavily guarded with Grado soldiers and a new invention was introduced to us. The Ballista; a device that could shoot large arrows at long distances with great force. They were placed all over the area. When the battle started, me and Colm killed off an enemy archer who was riding one of the ballistas and got little Neimi in one. I remember how she shot an arrow at a soldier who was almost a mile away and killed him with a single shot. That's the moment Neimi realized she was a trigger happy lunatic. She shot rapidly at the enemies, never giving them time to recover.

"She's about as bad as Darian when she's around a bael." Joshua noted as we watched her laugh evilly as she took down another soldier.

"Geez! Is that really Neimi the cry baby?" Colm asked as she ruthlessly assaulted another soldier, laughing menacingly while doing so. "Remind me to not make fun of her anymore!"

Neimi's ballista was placed on the right side of the area. She had that side covered but we still had the left side of the battlefield to worry about. An enemy archer had already stationed himself on the left side's ballista and he was making good use of it. The worst part of it was we had to go over there in order to get to the castle. I hesitated to move any further but I managed to force myself to keep going. Ahead of me was one of our guys. A heavily armored knight named Gilliam. I had never talked to him before due to the fact that he was kind of scary looking. He always had this angry expression on his face that sort of said, "You come near me and I'll devour your soul." I'm not really sure he would say that or not, but that was the impression I had.

I was about to go over to him, but then I saw the archer on the ballista launch an arrow at him. "LOOK OUT!!" I shouted but it was too late. I watched as the arrow was deflected off his armor.

_The arrows can't penetrate Gilliam's armor... _I thought to myself. Then a grand idea came to me. I ran behind him and stayed close. Every step he took, I would take as well. It must have been an odd scene, but I honestly didn't care.

"What exactly are you doing?" Gilliam asked when he finally noticed me.

"Did you know that you make the perfect human shield?" I asked.

"I would prefer it if you didn't use me as a shield." I don't think he was too pleased by this.

"And get shot? You can't be serious!"

Gilliam didn't bother fighting with me. Instead, he continued marching towards the castle. "That's right!" I shouted. "You keep going Mr. Tank!"

"What's a tank?" He asked.

"A grand complement to you, my tankish friend." I replied. Seth's stallion ran past us. His horse dodged every arrow with elegance. Seth then threw a javelin at the archer on the ballista that killed him instantly. He then made his way over to the one leading the enemy army. The enemy leader was a cavalier and he was the only thing blocking our way into the castle.

Seth stabbed him with his sword but the cavalier was still standing. That's when Gilliam the Tank speared the guy with his lance right through the stomach. The cavalier went down and that was the end of that skirmish.

Colm began rummaging through the fallen cavalier's bags of equipment. "Colm, leave the dead guy's stuff alone." I said.

The blue haired thief pulled out an odd looking item. "I wonder what this is..." He said as he examined it.

"That's called a knight crest." Seth explained. "It's an item that allows cavaliers and knights to class change."

I gave him a puzzled look. "What's class change?" I asked.

"That's when we are promoted to an upgraded class that's more powerful than our last." The paladin tried to explain but I think he realized that I was still confused. "I'll explain this all to you some other time." He continued. "But right now, we must rescue prince Ephraim."

And so, we rushed through the castle gates and into its dark corridors. We were immediately greeted by another paladin. "Princess Eirika. And...is that you, Seth?" The paladin asked.

"Sir Orson..." Seth replied. "Why are you here and not with Prince Ephraim?"

Orson explained that he and Ephraim were captured by Grado forces and were held as prisoners in the castle. He managed to escape his cell but he said Ephraim was still in one of the deeper cells. He then lead us through the corridors to the where the cells were. As we walked, Eirika, Seth, and Orson talked with each other about some important stuff. I talked with Colm and Neimi.

"Hey, Darian, you want to hang onto this?" Colm asked as he handed me the Knight Crest. "I can't use it and it'll only weigh me down."

"Sure. I guess." I said as I took it from him and shoved it into my pockets.

Just then we stopped and Orson fled from us. "What's going on?" I asked. Not like I had to ask, the general in red armor standing before us answered that question.

"I am Tirado." He said. "Loyal and talented aide to Valter, general of the Grado army."

"Where is my brother?!" Eirika demanded.

"He's not here." The general replied. "The coward fled Lord Valter's pursuit. Somehow, he escaped the castle." He rambled on about some more stuff. Like how he told the villagers that they had captured him and his troops, and this was all a trap to get Eirika's bracelet. Then they destroyed the bridge, our only path to escape. Now we had no choice but to fight.

Our army charged forward and began attacking any enemy soldiers that got in our sights. I ran through a hallway that no one else had bothered to go to yet. It probably wasn't the smartest idea I had, especially when I saw most of the army heading off into another direction and no one followed me. I didn't think much of it though and continued my stride.

Just then, a warrior in a red jacket jumped in front of me and began swinging a sword at me. I blocked off his sword with my axe and pushed him back. I had a chance to look him over. He had short silver hair, red eyes, and he was much taller than me. (But I'm short so you can't use that as any form of measurement.) I would guess he was about the same age as me. Maybe slightly older.

While I was distracted, the guy pulled out a knife and threw it at me. The blade drove into my shoulder and I roared in pain. I pulled the knife out and chucked it back at him. He defected it with his sword and charged for me once again. Our weapons clashed against each other over and over. I had guessed we were on the same level of strength. Then he kicked me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I fell to the ground, gasping for air. I looked up to see him raise his sword into the air, ready to bring it down on me. Just then, I heard the cry of a horse from behind me. I turned to see a white horse charge towards my opponent. Startled, the warrior backed away from the new attacker.

The odd thing about this horse was that it had wings. A Pegasus knight. I thought to myself. The rider of the Pegasus was a woman, no older than me. She had white armor and long green hair, tied back in a braided pony tail. She drove her lance towards my enemy but he managed to dodge the attack.

I quickly recovered from being kicked in the stomach. I took up my axe and charged at the silver haired warrior once more. He jumped back before I could properly chop him in half but I still managed to knick him across his gut. He fell to one knee and held his stomach were the cut was.

"KAEDE!!" I heard someone cry out. From the darkness of the hallway, I watched as a recruit rushed to the silver haired warrior's side. The recruit wore a red chest plate and shoulder pads but those were the only armor he had. His hair was of a light green and was short and spiky. "Kaede." He repeated once more. "We need to get you out of here."

"I'm fine." The warrior named Kaede said sharply. "I can still fight."

"You're going to bleed to death if you keep this up." The recruit protested. He helped him up and pulled him through the hallway. "Let's go!"

"Alright." Kaede snarled, finally realizing he was defeated. He then turned to me. "This is far from over, kid." The two disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.

"Thanks for saving me back there." I said to the pegasus knight.

"No problem." She replied. "I don't think I've introduced myself to you. I'm Vanessa, a knight of Frelia. You're that kid from the other world, right? I think you're name's Darian?"

I nodded. "Yep, that's me." Now that the introductions were made, it was time to continue the fight. I began running through the hallway once more. "Come on!" I called behind me. "Don't want to leave you in the dust."

Vanessa flicked her pegasus' reigns. "Let's ride, Titania!" she shouted. The pegasus neighed loudly and galloped beside me.

I took a sharp turn into another hallway, but I wound up crashing into someone else. We both were knocked down. I leaped back up and readied my axe, preparing to fight off another soldier if I had too. The person in front of me was a guy with short blue hair, blue armor and a black cape. He also took a battle stance with his lance that he held tightly in his hands. "Who are you?" He asked sternly. "You don't appear to be one of the enemies."

"One of the enemies...?" I repeated.

"Prince Ephraim!!" Shouted a cavalier that rode through the hallway. The cavalier had curly green hair and green armor. Another cavalier followed close behind him. This one had red armor, blonde hair that was held back in a pony tail, and looked like he was half asleep.

"Prince Ephraim? Are you alright?" The green cavalier asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, Kyle." The man I bumped into replied.

The red armored knight let out a yawn. "Hmm...I feel sleepier than usual." He said.

"Forde!" Kyle yelled. "Stay awake or I swear I'll-"

"Yes mother." Forde said with an annoyed yawn. "God forbid I get another scolding from you."

"You're Prince Ephraim?!" Vanessa cried out, ignoring the two cavalier's discussion. The prince nodded.

"This is great!" I said happily. "We're with Princess Erikia's army. We're here to rescue you. Eirika's going to be overjoyed!"

"Eirika's here? Take me to her!" He commanded. Vanessa and I lead them through the hallway, and back to the room where the battle first started. But the room now was completely deserted.

"Which way did they go?" I asked Vanessa.

"I don't know." She replied. "I saw you run off on your own and I thought you might need back up. I didn't pay attention as to where they went."

I started running down one random hallway. "Let's go this way!" I shouted.

"You can't be serious." Kyle said with growing irritation. "You can't just go through some random corridor and hope to find them."

"Do you have a better plan?" Forde asked. Kyle said nothing in retaliation.

The pain in my arm was beginning to worsen and a slowed down my stride as I gripped my aching shoulder.

"Don't slow down!" Ephraim shouted as he ran past me.

"Easy for you to say." I replied. Vanessa saw my exhaustion and pulled me onto her pegasus, Titania.

"Are you all right?" She asked. "The wound you sustained from that warrior's knife looks deep."

I wish she hadn't brought it up. I had tried pushing back the annoying stinging sensation that ran through my shoulder each time I moved my arm. "It's nothing." I said. She gave me a look that indicated that she wasn't convinced but she dropped the subject after that.

Kyle reached into his saddle bag and took out a roll of gauze and tossed to me. "Here, wrap yourself up with this before you bleed to death."

"I don't think it will hurt to slow our stride just a little." Forde said. "Surely you're getting worn out too, my Lord?"

"I am a little." The prince admitted. He began to slow down but still kept a quick pace.

I turned to Ephraim's two cavaliers and said, "I have a gift for you guys." They glanced over to me and I tossed Forde the Knight Crest I got from Colm.

"A Knight Crest!" Forde said excitedly. "Too bad I have no idea how to use it."

"Are you serious?!" Kyle asked in a peeved tone. I was starting to get used to that. "That was one of the first things we learned when we joined the army."

"Ah...I must have been absent that day."

"No. You were asleep. Just like always."

"That explains it then." Forde said with a chuckle.

"How do you use a class changing item, Kyle?" I asked.

"It's simple." The green cavalier explained. "All you really have to do is wish for it's power. If conditions are right, it will promote you to a stronger state."

Forde seemed bewildered. "Really? All I have to do is say "I wish I could class change." And then- Poof! I'm a paladin?"

"Well...Yes." Kyle replied. "That's about it in a nut shell."

Forde smiled. "Alright then. I wish I was a paladin!" There was a brilliant flash of light that engulfed Forde and his horse. When the light faded and I could see properly again, Forde's armor had changed. It looked heavier and more durable. And shinier. His horse also changed from brown to a white color. I was a bit confused by all of this.

"Hey! I feel a hundred times stronger!" Forde exclaimed.

"I think it's funny how you don't question why your clothes changed, or how your horse magically changed colors." I murmured.

"Forde!" Kyle cried out. "You aren't suppose to use them for just any moment. It should be when you feel absolutely ready."

"I did feel ready." Forde mocked.

"And class changing items only have one use! You may have just wasted it!"

Forde just shrugged. The two argued with each other for some time until we reached the end of the hallway. When we entered the new room, we found that it was a large area whose roof extended several feet off the ground. At the back of the room was a throne and sitting on the throne was the general, Tirado.

"What's our battle plan?" I asked.

"Kyle! Forde! Charge!" Ephraim commanded.

The two charged forward at the general. Tirado thrust his lance at Kyle and knocked him off his horse. Forde threw his javelin to try to distract Tirado from attacking the fallen cavalier.

"Darian! We're going to fly!" Vanessa said as she flicked the reigns of the pegasus. Titania neighed and flew into the air. There was enough space in the room for Titania to fly fairly high. Vanessa threw her javelin at Tirado but he knocked it away with the armor on his arms.

"He's got a tough hide." I said. It reminded me of the fight we had in Serafew. It took several of us just to take down the enemy leader there. We defeated him by breaking his armor and attacking his new vulnerable spot. I wasn't sure if we could pull that off again.

As Titania flew over the general, I leaped off of her and slammed my axe into Tirado's shoulder. Tirado screamed in pain and pushed me off. Titania did a loop in the air and dived down on him. Vanessa plunged her lance into the wound I had inflicted.

The general fell to one knee and gripped his injury tightly. I walked over to finish him off. As I lifted my axe, he threw his lance at me. Eprhaim pushed me out of the way just in time.

"Be careful." He said. It was stern but at the same time it was like a friendly warning. I smiled and the two of us moved at full speed. I slashed at the Tirado's chest but my axe was deflected by his armor.

"Fool!" The general laughed. "Did you honestly think you could penetrate my armor?"

"You're the fool." Ephraim said as he ran his lance through the General's exposed back. "Your armor leaves your back completely exposed. Then you turned all your attention to Darian. Never take your eye's off of your opponents. General Duessel taught me that important lesson."

Tirado fell to the ground, dead. Another victory for us. "We make a pretty good team." I said to the prince. "Same with you guys." I added as I turned to Vanessa, Forde, and Kyle.

"We should try to find the rest of our group." Vanessa said.

We heard the sound of battle in one hallway. We headed there and sure enough, the Renais army was finishing off the rest of the enemy soldiers.

I spotted Eirika and pulled Ephraim over to her. "Eirika!" I shouted excitedly. "I have a surprise for you! Merry Christmas!!" I practically threw Eprhaim at her.

"Brother!" She cried out as the two hugged.

"Eirika. I'm glad to see you safe." He said.

I felt some one whack my head. "Where'd you decide to run off to?" Ross asked. Joshua, Colm, Natasha and Neimi joined us.

"I went off on my own." I replied.

"Did you learn your lesson?" The journeyman asked as he pointed to the blood stain on my shoulder.

"Yeah, totally." I replied. Natasha gasped when she saw the injury I obtained and quickly went to work on healing me. I turned to watch Eirika and Ephraim's happy reunion. I couldn't help but feel happy too.

* * *

"I won again, Darian!" Ross said excitedly. We decided to settle down in the Renvall castle that night so we would be well rested for the march tomorrow. We were heading to Frelia to discuss our next plan of action. Our little group was hanging out in one room of the castle. I was sparing with Ross and once again it was a failure on my part.

Joshua sighed. "I don't get it. You can take down almost any enemy in front of you but you can't beat a twelve-year-old."

"Pretend he's a bael." Colm said with a snicker. But then he stopped and had a look of horror on face. "Wait! I take that back. Don't pretend he's a bael."

"Why?" Artur asked.

"I think Garcia wants' his kid to live through this war." Colm replied.

"Or not get killed by an ally." Neimi added.

"Would you guys just drop the spider thing, already?!" I screamed.

"You know they won't let you live that down." Lute said with a faint smile.

I sighed. "Yeah. I guess I should just get used to it..."

Vanessa and Forde walked over to our group. "I just heard that a lot of the soldiers managed to retreat." Forde said.

I shrugged. "Let them." I replied with little care.

"What about that silver haired warrior?" Vanessa asked. "I have a bad feeling about him. He sounded like he was out to kill you."

"Great job, Darian. Making enemies with everyone you meet."

"Shush Joshua!" I said. "Let him try. Bring it on! That's what I say to him."

"Let's not wish for un-needed danger." Artur advised.

I had to agree with Vanessa though. I had a feeling that that wasn't going to be the last time I saw that silver haired warrior, or the recruit that was with him. But next time I see them, I'll be ready for them.


	5. Don't Worry, Marth is Not Dead

CHAPTER 5: DON'T WORRY. MARTH IS NOT DEAD

Colm was happily listening to Marth at full blast as we marched to Frelia.

"I still don't get what that thing is." Joshua remarked.

"It's a music playing device." I replied.

"What's a music playing device?" Natasha asked.

"It...makes music." I really didn't know how to explain it.

Just then we heard Colm let out a startled yelp. "Something's wrong with Marth!!" He cried out. I took a look and tried to turn it back on. Nothing happened.

"It's dead." I said.

"Dead?" Neimi and Colm asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, sadly." I said as I reached into my pockets for a spare battery I kept with me.

"Why did he die?" They both asked.

"The battery's dead."

"What's a batterys?"

"kind of like a heart for electronics." I replied. Then they both started crying.

"Marth can't die!!" They wailed. "We love him too much!!"

I finally found another battery in my pockets. I took out Marth's old battery and replaced it with the new one. Then I handed it back to them and managed to shout over their sobbing, "He should be working again."

They stopped crying and Colm took the MP3. He turned it on and had a look of amazement. "HE'S ALIVE!!" He shouted.

"Yeah, I just had to change the battery." I explained.

"Darian's...able to perform miracles!" Neimi said excitedly.

"She resurrected Marth!!" Colm added.

"No, I just changed the battery." I tried to explain again. Not like it did any good. The two immediately ran off to tell everyone that I could revive the dead. That was a fun rumor to try to try to fight off...

((Autor's Note: This chapter was really REALLY short. I know it wasn't much of a chapter in the end but the idea humored me and I ran with it. A more serious chapter will be put up later. I promise.))


	6. Zel

CHAPTER 6: ZEL

When we arrived at Frelia, the Renais twins, Frelia's king Haydin, and his son Innis had a meeting. Along with the mysterious dragon girl named Myrrh whom Ephraim had been traveling with. The rest of us didn't think much of it. We knew what they were discussing. They were talking about the war and how they could stop it. What we didn't expect was when Frelia's tower of Valni was attacked by Grado troops later that night. Lead by Generals Selena and Caellach, the enemy destroyed the sacred stone held within the tower. We didn't get word of this until it was too late. With Grado's and Frelia's sacred stones destroyed, the only reamaining stones were the ones from Renais, Jehnna, and Rausten.

The next day held only more sad news. Our team was parting ways with Eirika. Our army would follow Prince Ephraim from now on. The prince would be leading us into the heart of Grado while Eirika would go to Rausten and warn them of Grado's attempts at destroying the stone. Many of us wanted to go with Eirika to keep her safe, but she refused to take anyone.

"Go with my brother." She said. "He needs you more than I do."

So that was that. We had a new leader. Neimi cried when we had to say good bye to Eirika but Neimi crying wasn't anything new. Colm was pretty upset with the thought of having a new leader now. It was pretty obvious Colm didn't care for Ephraim too much. Other than that, everyone else seemed okay with following Ephraim.

After we departed from Frelia, we traveled to the port town of Bethroen. Ephraim had hopes of finding Grado's General Duessle. The two seemed to have a good friendship and we were told that the general even opposed the war. Maybe we could get him to explain why Grado was so hell-bent on destroying the stones.

We arrived at the port town where we were greeted by a small earthquake. The tremor startled all of us. I couldn't help but let out a yelp as I fell to the ground. When it had subsided, I cautiously stood back up and glanced around. Everyone was looking about with wide eyes. Neimi had seized a hold of Colm's arm and held on to him tightly.

"Well, what's this?" I said slyly at the two. "Colm, Neimi's white knight."

Both their faces lit up and Colm shoved the little archer off of him.

"That was a random earthquake." I said aloud. Not to anyone in particular, more just to vocalize.

"I'd heard that tremors such as that were commonplace in Grado." Seth explained. "Apparently, they are usually weak and cause little, if any, damage."

Ephraim composed himself once more, trying to show that he wasn't too taken off guard by the quake. "Now that I think back on it, I remember when me and Eirika first visited Grado there was a tremor just like that one. We were both startled but Lyon just laughed. He said he had just grown used to them."

"I could never get used to anything like that." Artur said.

I had agree with him.

Ephraim held his lance tightly in his hand and he thrusted it up in the air. "We must press forward." He said as he turned to all of us. "We must see to the capital." And so the march began once more.

A few hours later, we were in the port town of Bethroen. We stopped dead in our tracks when we saw that the Grado army was before us, walking about the streets. The odd thing was, they appeared to be chasing some one down.

"Wait! That's Duessel!" Epraim shouted as he saw who they were after.

"What are your orders, my prince?" Seth asked.

"We rescue Duessel!" The prince replied. We grabbed our weapons and took to the battlefield.

Colm, Neimi, Joshua, Natasha, and I stuck close to each other, working together to fight off the enemy numbers before us. We found where Duessel and his men were being held captive. We raced over to try to help them but we were stopped by a batch of recruits, barely holding on to their lances. I felt sort of bad for taking them down but it had to be done.

To my surprise, one of the recruits managed to block off my axe with his lance. He had short spiky green hair and light red armor. I pulled my axe back and shouted, "Hey! You're that recruit guy who was with the psychotic silver haired swordsman!"

"You're that loner loudmouth axe fighter!" The recruit said back. He took a fighter stance that made it more than obvious he had no real fighting experience.

"Kid, if you take stances like that you'll only get yourself killed." I said.

"Shut up!" He shouted as he charged at me. He thrusted his lance a few times at me but I dodged the attacks with ease. He then threw his lance but it missed by a few inches. He grimaced as he stood their, weaponless.

"See what I mean?" I asked as I picked up his lance. "You need to be a bit smarter when you fight." I tossed him his weapon. "Come on, get serious now."

"Why did you give me my weapon back?" He asked as he grabbed his lance from the ground. "You could have finished me off."

"I could have, but I won't." I said. "I don't fight weaponless enemies. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

He glanced at his lance. "I don't get it. I heard that the soldiers in the Renais army were blood thirsty monsters who would slit their enemy's throats with no feeling of remorse."

"It's true." I said. "I can kill and not feel any remorse, but I do have my morals and I follow by them. I don't attack an unarmed enemy."

"Morals? None of this makes sense. We've been trained to believe you're all horrible murderers."

"Kid, open your eyes!" I shouted. "You're people are the murderers! Your king ordered the attack on Renais and killed my friends Eirika and Ephraim's father. Your people are the ones that ravaged Renais and lead it into chaos. If your people hadn't done this, then my friends Colm and Neimi wouldn't have lost their village to a bandit attack during all the chaos. Who are the murderers now?"

His eyes widened. "You think your friends are the only one's to ever lose loved ones? I lost family. I've lost everything!"

"Why do you fight?" I asked simply.

He glanced at me with a look of bewilderment.

"Why are you standing here, fighting me now?" I continued. "What drives you to do this?"

"I want to save lives." He said. "I want to save others when I couldn't save my family. I just want to do the right thing."

"Do you know why Grado fights?"

He shook his head. "The soldiers aren't told any of the details. All we know is that we have to destroy you."

"Are you really doing the right thing then? Are you saving any lives by aiding an army that took thousands of lives in another kingdom?"

He said nothing as his gaze shifted to the ground.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Zel." He replied.

"Don't fight me, Zel." I said. "We're fighting to save people as well. We're fighting to do the right thing. But remember, one man's justice is another man's evil. You have to decide with your heart if what your doing is the right thing, not the words of your commander."

He thought long and hard about what I had said. Finally, he threw down his lance. "I know what Grado has done is wrong. I surrender." He said.

I picked up his lance and handed it back to him. "How about fighting with us, instead?" I offered. "We could use the extra help. Besides, I think you'll become a great hero one day."

Colm walked up beside me and said, "You know, I think it's kind of odd how we can have these long conversations during a battle and no one will ever attack us."

"I happened to think about that as well." I admitted. "Remember the other day, when we were attacked by those monsters?"

Colm nodded. "Joshua kept hitting on Natasha that whole fight. At one point, they stopped battling and had some friendly conversation like it was nothing."

"Yeah, it is a little odd. I think they're a couple now."

"I figured."

"Maybe we should get back to the battle now?" Neimi said as she shot arrows at some of the enemies.

I grabbed my axe and charged for the closest enemy; a priest. I didn't really think much of it, but he whiped out this weird looking staff and cast some weird spell. Sparkling lights surrounded me and I felt myself start feeling sort of drowsy. I stopped in my tracks and wobbled back and forth. Then my eyes closed and I fell over.

* * *

Everything was still dark. I felt something being jabbed at my cheek. "Colm, stop poking her with a stick." Joshua said.

"I'm trying to wake her up." The thief shot back.

I grabbed a hold of the stick as it poked me again. I pulled it away from him and broke it in half. I sat up, feeling like I was barely awake. I looked around and saw that I was now in what appeared to be a large room in a castle. I was resting on the stone floor with a blanket underneath me. Joshua, Neimi, Colm, Natasha, and Zel were all gathered around me. "What happened?" I asked.

"After the battle, we decided to rest here for the night." Natasha explained.

"I missed the battle?!" I cried out.

"Yeah, good job there, sleepy head." Colm said.

Over at another part of the large room, Ephraim, Myrrh and Duessel were talking. "You've grown to be quiet the commander." Duessel said to Ephraim. "I remember what a stubborn young lad you were when I taught you years ago."

"Any skill I have, I owe to you, Duessel." Ephraim replied. "I'm curious, why are you being pursued by your own troops?"

Duessel turned away, looking as if the topic exhausted him.

"Speak to me Duessel." Ephraim said sounding quiet concerned. "I want to put an end to this war. I'm sure you feel the same way."

"As you know, the emperor was once a man of compassion." Duessel said. "He loathed war, and he worked to build peace across all nations. But then...one day that all changed."

"But why did he change?"

"I wish I knew." The general admitted. "But if you're looking for a likely cause, I have one. This all seems to have begun when Prince Lyon and the mages created a strange gemstone they referred to as the Dark Stone.

"The Dark Stone?" I asked as I stood up and joined in.

"That's what the Clerics and the prince called it." Duessel replied. "I'm just a soldier. I don't know anything about these magic things. But they said the Dark Stone is more powerful than the sacred stones."

"But the sacred stones had the power to destroy the demon king!" Zel argued. "Just how powerful is that thing?"

"I don't think we want to know." Neimi said.

Myrrh tugged on Ephraim's sleeve.

"What is it, Myrrh?" Ephraim asked.

"The wave of evil I felt surging from the capital...It hungers...It consumes. It envelops and transforms. This power can tarnish the purest of souls with it's corruption." She said.

"Is the Dark Stone responsible for the change in Vigarde?" Ephraim asked. "The timing fits, doesn't it? The stone is created, and then...Duessel, where is the Dark Stone now?"

"It's in the Capital with Prince Lyon." Duessel explained. "He's been carrying it with him ever sinse the day it was created."

"I'm going to the capital." Ephraim said determinedly. "I must talk to Lyon. Maybe we can restore the emperor together."

"I'm going with you as well. I've been branded a traitor. If you wish to save the Emperor, then I pledge my loyalty to you." Duessel said.

Zel smiled. "This is great! With General Duessel on our side, we're going to beat Grado easily."

"There's one other thing that I should inform you of..." Duessel said gravely.

"And that is?" Ephraim asked.

"The other generals and I have been given a task by the Emperor. He showed us a scroll that has been kept away in the castles libraries for centuries. On this scroll tells a prophecy. A prophecy that states an entity from another world will come into this one."

"You mean Darian?" Ephraim asked.

"The entity is among you?!" Duessel cried out.

I stepped forward. "Yeah, that's me." I said.

"You? You are from another world?"

I nodded. Duessel turned to Ephraim. "I must speak to you privately." He said urgently. My friends and I glanced at each other, wondering what was going to happen.


	7. The Prophecy

CHAPTER 7: THE PROPHECY

Some time had passed after Ephraim and Duessel had gone to another room to discuss the prophecy that I was involved in. I don't know why they didn't bother to include me, seeing that I was the main topic. We where now eating our dinner in one of the large bed rooms of the castle. It was my common group. Artur, Colm, Lute, Natasha, Zel, and Neimi, eating together on the stone floor.

"What do you think the prophecy says about you, Darian?" Neimi asked.

"Who knows?" I said as I bit into my chicken.

"I've got an idea." Colm said.

"What's that?" We all asked him.

"The prophecy foretells of an entity from another world." Colm began in an narrator sort of voice. "Let's just call her Darian. She's come to us to battle an ancient evil that has threatened us for thousands of years."

"What is this ancient evil?" Neimi asked.

"She has been brought here to eradicate...the spider race!"

I proceeded to flick mashed potatoes into Colm's hair. Everyone else had a good laugh. Except Zel who had to have the joke explained to him. He would come to enjoy looking back on that joke in time.

Once dinner was over with, I felt oddly restless. "I'm going to go train a bit." I told the others.

"I think I'm going to pass on tonight's training session." Joshua said. "I just want to relax for a while."

"That's fine." I replied. "I can train by myself." I was just about to head off but there came a knock on the door. I answered it and Ephraim was standing there.

"I need to speak privately with Darian." He seemed really serious. Almost intimidating, but I followed him anyway. He led me to his room and motioned for me to go inside. Waiting inside as well was Duessel.

"Darian, there is something very important that we must talk to you about." Ephraim said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"The prophecy..." He replied gravely. "I fear may be correct."

I glanced over at Duessel. He cleared his throat and said, "The prophecy the Emperor showed us foretold of your coming, a war over the sacred stones, and in the midst of the chaos, the Demon King will be to be revived."

"Revived?" I asked. "That's horrible!"

"I'm afraid that's not the worst part." He said. "It's what it says about the entity from another world."

"You mean...me?"

"Sadly, yes. It says that they will bring unimaginable chaos, destruction, death, and ultimately...the end of all existence."

"No!" I cried out. "That can't be! I would never do that! Never! Surely there has to be a mistake!"

He shook his head. "It already foresaw the war."

I quickly turned to Ephraim. "Prince Ephraim!" I cried out, almost sounding like I was pleading. "I can't be the one the scroll's talking about. How could I do any of that?"

"I'm not sure... But I can't simply over look this." Ephraim said somberly. "Darian, if your allowed to live, then your going to be the bringer of the end of the world."

I felt my heart sink and my mouth go dry. Was it really my destiny to destroy the world that I came to love so much? Was I destined to kill those I cared about the most? It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be.

"Darian," Sorrow filled Ephraim's voice. "For the sake of this world...You must not be allowed to live. I wish it didn't come down to this but I..."

"No, your completely in the right for wanting to kill me." I said. "I would do the same thing if I were in your shoes. Just, get it over with fast, okay? I don't want to hurt anyone."

He reached for his lance that was sitting beside the desk. He held it right before my chest, ready to run it through my heart. But for the longest time, nothing happened. Then we heard a scream.

"STOP!!" Colm's voice cried out as he shoved Ephraim away from me.

"Colm?! What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Saving you, what's it look like?"

Neimi and Joshua entered the room as well. "Prince, what has gotten into you?" Joshua demanded.

"I'm not doing this because I want to," Ephraim said as he pushed himself up. "You were listening in, weren't you? Then you know full well that Darian is going to end the world."

"Nonsense!" Colm spat. "Darian's not smart enough to end the world."

"Gee thanks Colm..." I said sarcastically.

"Darian would never hurt anyone!" Neimi said. "She's too kind of a person to do something like that. She would never cause death or destruction."

"I have to side with them." Joshua added. "I'd trust her with my life."

"Guys, what he's saying is true. I'm obviously going to bring chaos. The prophecy says so." I said.

"Do you want to die?" Joshua asked me.

"No, I don't but-"

"Then don't argue with us when we defend you."

Ephraim sat his spear down. "Darian, I don't want to kill you." He said. "But I can't have you staying here either. For my troops' safety, I'm going to have to ask you to leave my army."

"Ephraim..."

"My spear was made to destroy my enemies, not my friends. I'm not sure if what the prophecy says is true or not, but I can't risk my soldiers getting hurt because of you."

"Well said, Prince Ephraim." Duessel said.

I gave him a bow. "I thank you for sparing my life." I said. "I wish things didn't have to end this way though..."

"As do I, Darian. Now go. I expect you to be miles away before the sun rises."

"Understood." I took my leave from his room. Behind me, I heard Colm say, "If your sending Darian away, then your sending me away too."

"If that is your choice." Ephraim said. "I'm not going to beg you to stay."

"I'm going too." Neimi said.

"And me as well." Joshua added.

"By all means, leave." Ephraim said.

Then the three walked out of his room and joined with me.

"Your not coming." I said.

"Try to stop us." Colm challenged. "If you think you can that is."

"Your not coming." I repeated even more sternly than before.

"You can't go off by yourself." Neimi said.

"Sure I can. I don't need your guys slowing me down."

Joshua laughed. "We're going whether you like it or not. You know us by now."

I shook my head. "The army needs you. I don't. Please, just stay." But they refused. I couldn't convince them other wise. I had no choice but to give in. "Alright, you can tag along on one condition."

"Name it." Joshua said.

"No one else goes too. It's just you three." I knew they wouldn't agree to these terms. Those three blabber mouths would tell Lute, Artur, Natasha, and maybe even the whole army before we left.

"Sure thing." The trio said.

Of coarse I'm wrong a lot. I really didn't want to get them involved but that's what happens when you have good friends like them.

"When do we leave?" Neimi asked.

"After everyone else is asleep." I replied. It didn't take long though. As soon as we got back to the room, everyone else was already gone. We searched peeked into each room and found Artur, Lute, and Natasha all fast asleep.

"Guess we didn't have to wait." Colm said. "We need supplies. I'll go stock up." He was gone before I could say anything.

"This may be the last time we ever see them again." Neimi said. "I'm sure going to miss them." She was crying a little. Nothing new.

Then, I watched Joshua creep into Natasha's room. He leaned down beside her bed. He stroked her hair and whispered something in her ear. Then he lightly kissed her cheek. I knew he was going to miss her badly, but Ephraim's army was going to need her and everyone else. It was bad enough that Colm, Neimi, and Joshua coming with me.

Colm then returned with a large bag filled with gold, weapons, medicines, and just about anything else he could get his grubby little hands on. "We're all geared up." He said. "Now let's get out of here."

Joshua stood back up and joined with the rest of us. "Do we have any idea where we're going to go?"

"No," I said. "I'll figure that out later. But we need to move now."

The three nodded and I lead them from the army. A sense of sorrow welled up within me. I'm the bringer of chaos, death, and destruction. I'll end the world. I'm pure evil. But truth was, I was more depressed about leaving my friends behind. All those nights we ate together and laughed and joked. They're gone and will never return. But at least I had Colm, Neimi, and Joshua.

We left the castle and were quickly caught. "Where are you guys going?" Zel asked.

"No where in particular." I replied. I didn't want to get him involved. "What are you doing out here?"

"I couldn't sleep." He replied. "Did you find out anything about the prophecy?"

"Darian's going to end the world." Colm said.

I shot a glare at him. "Apparently, I'm some Bringer of Chaos."

Zel folded his arms. "I don't believe that. How could you alone end the world?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea, but it foretold the war of the stones. Isn't that proof enough?"

I began to walk away when he called after me again. "I'm coming with you."

"Not you too." I said. "It's bad enough these three are coming along."

"It's like you told me. I have to let my heart tell me what's good and evil. You're not evil and I think helping you would be doing the right thing."

"Face it, Darian, you have good friends." Joshua said. "Now, shall we take our leave?"

Zel picked up his lance and the five of us headed out. We went into a forest and started our new journey. Who knew where it would take us, but I knew for my friend's sake, I had to be strong.


	8. Seeker of Revenge

CHAPTER 8: SEEKER OF REVENGE

I woke up the next morning to the smell of cooking bacon. I sat up and saw Joshua cooking meat on pan over a campfire. Zel sat on the opposite side of the campfire.

"Smells good." I said.

"Thanks," Joshua replied. "It'll be ready soon."

I looked around and saw Colm snoring close by but I didn't see Neimi. "Where's Neimi?" I asked.

"She went off to train a little." Joshua said. "I'll get her when breakfast is ready." He flipped the meat with a metal spatula.

Just then we heard an ear piercing screech. Neimi ran back over to the campsite and Colm shot up with a start. We looked up and saw a wyvern flying downward and crash to the ground some where near by. The five of us rushed over to the fallen wyvern. On the back of it was a man with short blonde hair. For a split second, I thought it was Glen. But then I noticed the armor was blue, not red and he had a scar on his cheek. I realized it wasn't him.

"Are you alright?" Neimi asked.

The man groaned. "Yeah..." He said weakly. "Some Frelian archers just shot me down, that's all." He clenched his armor less side. It appeared to be bleeding. Then I saw that an arrow was sticking out of the wyvern's arm.

"I know you!" Zel shouted. "You're Cormag, the famed Grado Wyvern Rider."

"That's me." Cormag replied with a grunt.

"Hold on." I said as I ran back to the campsite. I grabbed some medicine and bandages and rushed back to the fallen wyvern rider. I tried to get close to Cormag, but the wyvern growled and snapped at me. I jumped back just in time. "Call off your dragon." I said.

"Just give me the medicine and I'll bandage this guy up." Cormag said.

I handed him the medicine and he tended to his dragon's wound. He bandaged his arm up and the wyvern seemed happy. "Let's go, Genarog." Cormag said as he hoped back on the dragon's back.

"What about you?" Neimi asked.

"I'll be fine." Cormag said. "It's just a scratch."

"Bull crap!" I exclaimed. "You're bleeding all over the place."

"It's not that bad." He replied. "Besides I'm in a rush."

"What could possibly be so important that you can't stop to tend to your wounds?" Zel asked in disbelief.

"Revenge." He snarled. "That damned princess of Renais killed my brother. She won't get away with it."

"You mean Princess Eirika?" The five of us said simultaneously.

"Yes. She brutally killed my brother." He paused and said, "Thank you for your help." He then turned to his wyvern. "Let's go Genarog."

I jumped on the tail of his dragon in hopes to stop him. It worked. The wyvern didn't fly away but hissed at me and tried to shake me off.

"What are you doing?!" Cormag demanded. "Get off."

"No!" I shouted. "I won't let you kill Eirika! She's my friend."

"I don't care if she's your friend or not. She murdered my brother!"

"Eirika would never do that! She hates violence more than anything else!"

"She's a murderer!"

"No she's not!"

"Get off!"

"Make me!"

"She caused nothing but death and destruction to my kingdom, Grado."

"You brought it upon yourself, you jerk."

Okay, I know. It's probably not smart to tick of the guy with the dragon. But, I'm not very bright when it comes to zipping my mouth. Needless to say, the knight was furious. He got off his wyvern, grabbed a hold of my ankles and yanked me off. By this time, Colm, Neimi, Zel and Joshua had already drawn their weapons and were ready to fight the guy. Not like they needed to, he collapsed right after he pulled me off of Genarog. Blood was gushing from the wyvern rider's wound. I grabbed the medicine and the bandages and went to work on him. I applied the medicine to his gash and wrapped up his side with the bandages.

"Why are you helping me?" He asked.

"Yeah, why are you helping him?" Colm asked.

"I'm not sure." I said. "But I couldn't let him bleed to death, now could I?"

"You could have." Joshua said. "But it's not something you would do."

I turned to the wyvern rider and said. "Listen, you shouldn't hate Eirika. There's no way she would brutally murder someone. She would only fight if she absolutely had to. She would much rather converse instead of fight." I finished bandaging him. "There, all done."

Cormag stood up but I shoved him back down. "You're not going anywhere." I said sternly.

He attempted to protest but I wouldn't let him.

"Who told you Eirika killed your brother?" I asked.

"Another general named Valter."

Zel clenched my fists. "And you believe that freak?! He most likely was the one that killed him, not Eirika!" He said angrily.

Cormag looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know. You just might be right. That guy is sick enough he might do something like that. But I..."

"I'm not going to let you kill Eirika." I said. "As a matter of fact, I'm just going to let you go at all."

"What?!"

"Yeah, just because I don't trust you."

"I have to see if she really did kill him or not!" He argued.

"Well, too bad. You're not going."

"Try to stop me."

Neimi handed me my axe. "Are you sure you want me too? In your current condition there's no way you would stand a chance against me."

He sat there, looking defeated. Then there was an awkward silence.

"Breakfast is getting cold." Joshua said. "Is Cormag going to stay too?"

"That he is." I said. "Whether he wants' to or not."

"You're going to regret this!" Cormag hissed. "You picked the wrong person to tick off."

"No, you just picked the wrong group of people to crash next to." I helped him to his feet and led him over to our campsite.


	9. For Country and King

CHAPTER 9: FOR COUNTRY AND KING

We arrived at a town later that afternoon. The town was right by a marshy area where small rivers ran all around like a large spider web. I noticed we were getting some odd looks from the other town's people as we walked the streets.

"Why are people staring at us?" I asked.

Cormag gave me a dirty look. "It could probably be due to the fact you have my wrists tied behind my back and have a rope tied around my neck and you're dragging me through the town like this."

"Sorry, but I really don't trust you yet." I replied. "Think of it as being taken prisoner."

He mumbled something under his breath but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Cormag, is that you?" We heard a woman's voice say.

He turned to where the voice had come from and a look of horror washed over him. He turned away, looking ashamed about something.

"Cormag! It is you!" She said as she walked over to him. The woman who seemed to know Cormag looked like she must have been in her early twentys. She had long blond hair and green and black robes. She lead a stallion along side her by it's reigns. In her other hand, she held a golden stone. "What happened to you? Why are you tied up like that?"

"S...Selena..." Cormag muttered nervously. "It's...a long story."

"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded. "Do you know who man is?"

"His name's Cormag and he's a wyvern rider of Grado." I replied simply.

"He is the younger brother of Grado's general; Glen, the Sunstone." She said sternly.

"Glen?!" I cried out. "He's Glen's younger brother?!" I suddenly felt sad. "So that means...Glen's dead?"

"Why should you care?" Cormag asked. "You didn't know him."

I said nothing. They didn't need to know about me being from another world. Then they would know that I'm the Bringer of Chaos. They were both with Grado and if they knew about my destiny, then that could spell disaster for me.

"Darian, I need to speak with Selena in privacy." Cormag said.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"That's none of your business." He replied sternly.

I laughed a little. "Oh I get." I said as I nudged my elbow into his arm. "You two want your alone time."

He shot me an aggravated glare and I untied his wrists and neck. He and Selena walked off into the town to talk about stuff.

"Are you sure it's alright to let them go?" Zel asked. "What if they find out about you being the Bringer of Chaos?"

"I don't think they'll figure it out." I replied. "In the mean time, let's stock up on some food. We didn't grab much before we left." So we made our way to the nearest store and stocked up.

After buying more food than what we possibly needed, I decided it was best to head out again. We didn't bother to wait for Cormag. Chances were, he wasn't going to come back with us willingly. As we were about to depart from the port town, I saw Myrrh, walking about nervously.

"Myrrh? What are you doing here?" I asked as I ran over to her.

"Darian?" She said as she gazed around at our little group. "Why did you all leave? You all left so suddenly, and without telling anyone..."

"Didn't Ephraim explain everything to you?"

By this time, Selena and Cormag had begun to walk in our direction again. Myrrh's eye's widened as she glanced at the object Selena was holding.

"Return it." The little dragon girl said as she approached Selena. "The Stone...Please. Return it to me."

Selena stared at her suspiciously.

"Return the stone to me." Myrrh repeated in the most determined tone I had ever heard from her. "Please. I'll do anything."

"Why do you want the stone?" Selena asked. "Who are you? You're not from Grado, that's for sure."

"Without the stone, I..." She trailed off and shifted her gaze to the ground. "Please, give it back to me."

"Answer my questions!" The general demanded.

Myrrh sighed as she tried to gather her courage. "My name is Myrrh. I come from Darkling Woods. I was betrayed and my stone was taken from me. I was imprisoned, caged, and to be transported somewhere. Prince Ephraim came to my rescue. I've been traveling in his care ever since."

"You're with Ephraim? I can't let you leave. Maybe I can take you back to the capital with me."

Myrrh stepped back nervously, that's when I moved in front of her, my weapon drawn. "You're not taking Myrrh anywhere!" I shouted.

Myrrh stepped forward. "You're from Grado? Tell me, have you noticed any changes in the people around you recently?"

Selena looked puzzled. "Changes?" She asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Anyone near you... Has anyone been transformed, either in spirit or demeanor? Does anyone act in such a way as to appear a different person altogether?"

Selena turned away but then said quietly, "How could you know..."

"The darkness is to blame. I've come here to stop it."

"You will tell me more. If I find you are lying, I will punish you. Do you understand?" she threatened.

Myrrh nodded. "Are you ready? I will tell you everything I know."

Now I was interesting in what was being said. We all gathered round to hear what Myrrh had to say but she never even had a chance to start. One of the Grado soldiers ran over to us.

"Dame Selena! Enemy troops are heading this way!" the soldier said.

"Tell the men we meet them head on." The general ordered. "Cormag, you and I will take the lead."

"Yes, Dame Selena!" Cormag said as he followed the soldier to the front lines.

Selena then turned to Myrrh. "I release you. Return to Prince Ephraim's side. I apologize, but I cannot return your dragon stone to you. I vowed never again to fail in my duty to His Majesty. If you want your dragonstone back, tell Ephraim he must defeat me."

Myrrh tried to argue, but Selena would not be persuaded.

"Go now!" Selena shouted. "This place will soon run red!" The general leaped on her horse and took to the battlefield.

"Wait! Selena!!" I cried out as I ran after her. I stopped and looked back at Myrrh. "I'll get your dragonstone back!" I vowed.

"Darian..." She murmured softly.

I then chased after Selena once more.

"Darian! What are you doing?!" Colm demanded as he and the rest of my companions ran behind me. "Don't tell me you intend on fighting Selena!"

"I don't want to fight her." I replied. "She's not an enemy."

We quickly found her outside the town. She was leading the forces with Cormag by her side.

"All troops to arms! For the glory of Grado!" Selena shouted to rally her troops. She then led her soldiers as they marched on to the battle.

I ran in front of her and held my arms out. "STOP!!" I screamed.

Selena's horse reared back on to its hind legs and let out a startled cry. The other soldiers ran past and around her and charged toward the enemy. "What are you doing?!" Selena demanded. "Step aside!"

"You shouldn't fight them!" I cried out. "There's no reason to fight!"

"This is war. Our king ordered me to prove my loyalty to him and I shall."

"I don't understand. Why is this so important to you? You're one of Grado's Generals! You should care about the safety of your people first!"

Flames sparked in her eyes. "I do care about my people!" She roared.

"Then which is more important?" I asked. "Following your king's orders and destroying the Sacred Stones or protecting the Sacred Stones and saving your people from the growing darkness?"

"My king ordered me to destroy them. If it is his majesty's wish then so be. I shall do everything in my power to fulfill it."

"So you'll sacrifice the lives of your countrymen?! You know that if the Sacred stones are destroyed then the darkness will spread and the monsters will continue to attack everyone."

Cormag and Genarog landed in front of us. "Enough, Darian." He said sternly. "Get out of here, before we have to kill you and your companions."

The others readied their weapons. They were prepared to fight if they had too, but I felt that I could end this without violence. At least, I prayed I could.

"Please tell me, Selena, which do you care about more; your king or your people?" I asked.

"My king knows what's best." She replied.

"Not necessarily. I'm sure there have been plenty of power-hungry kings who cared only for themselves and no one else. Did those kings know what was for the best?"

"There have been power-hungry kings in Grado, but Emperor Vigarde is not like them!"

"People can change. Myrrh said that people in Grado are changing, what if the Emperor is one of them?

"I am a soldier!" She roared. "I do as I'm told. I fight for my country and king!"

"But you don't want to fight! You oppose this war. I can sense it. Duessel opposed this war, too! And so did Glen! Surely you are as just as they are!"

"You don't know a damn thing about my brother!" Cormag roared as he jabbed his lance at me. I managed to block it off with my axe.

"I did know you're brother." I said. "He was the first person I met when I came to this world! He helped me by taking me to a village where I would be safe and he told me how he opposed the war!"

He pulled his lance back. "You...You're the Bringer of Chaos?!"

I nodded. "Did your brother tell you about me?"

"Yes." Cormag said as he lowered his lance to his side. "He said that he wouldn't tell Emperor Vigarde about you because he didn't believe that you were the Bringer of Chaos. He said that there was no way you were a threat."

Selena turned to Cormag. "Glen knew about this and he said nothing to Emperor Vigarde?!"

"That's right. He said that he was possibly a traitor because of this. But..."

"What are we waiting for?! We must take her to His Majesty! Just as he ordered."

Cormag walked over to me and stood beside me. He faced Selena and said, "I know now what I must do. I had been questioning what I should be doing for some time now. If my brother protected Darian from Emperor Vigarde then so shall I."

"Then I have no choice but to destroy you too." She said as she pulled out an Elfire tome and began chanting the ancient language from it. She then released an intense blast of fire at Cormag. I shoved him out of the way and felt the painful sting of the flame against my arm. I winced at the new burn.

"Would a Bringer of Chaos take the hit intended for someone else?" Neimi asked.

"Don't be fooled by her lies!" Selena said. "The Bringer of Chaos is linked to the Demon King! That's how she will end the world! She will be the Demon King's right hand in the apocalypse!"

"I will do no such thing!" I shouted. I held my arm from where the burn had been inflected. The repulsive smell of burnt flesh coursed through my nostrils.

"I will follow his Majesty's Orders." Selena said as she began to chant another Elfire spell.

I stood up and thrust my axe into the ground. I then stepped away from it. "I won't fight you. You are not an enemy." I said.

"I will take you to His Majesty!" She said. "I will not allow you to end the world!"

"The darkness is already spreading without my help. Besides, you say you want to fight for the good of Grado, when you know the Emperor's soul is now corrupt."

She stopped chanting now and was silent.

"You can kill me." I continued on. "Then when I'm dead, the world will not end. You're planet will be protected. But if you keep destroying the Sacred Stones; who will protect you and your people from the darkness? What will you do when monsters or even worse...the Demon King starts walking the lands? Destroying, killing, and ravaging everything in sight. So tell me, are you really protecting your people from harm by destroying the only thing that keeps this world safe from evil? You may not care about your life, but at least care about the lives of those you have sworn to protect. If you truly care about your country as much as you say you do, then stop following Vigarde. Protect the Sacred Stones. Only death will result in your oaths to the king."

I then approached her. I gazed into her eyes. "I can sense it in you. You don't want to fight either. You're not a bad guy, Selena. And neither are your soldiers. You're all just confused. But you don't have to be. You can just retreat. You can go against all this because you know it's the right thing."

"But I..."

"You made an oath that you feel cannot be broken? Am I correct?"

She nodded.

"Listen, we all have to make painful decisions in life. Most of mine from here on out probably will be very painful. Do you think I want to be the one to end the world? No! I have so many people I've come to love. I can't bear the thought of being the one to destroy them or their home."

"Our king has talked about you as if you're some monster but...I don't think you are..." She said. "No monster could ever love or speak the words you have today. But how do I know I can trust you? What if you're just lying?"

"Look into my eyes!" I shouted. "And tell me if I'm lying or not!"

She stared hard at me and finally said, "I believe you." She then turned to one of her soldiers, a ranger. "You there. You lead the troops."

"Why, Dame Selena?" He asked.

"I must tend to something." She said. I could feel the sorrow coming from her heart. It was disheartening and filled me with sadness.

"This fight can't be stopped." Cormag explained. "I'm sure Dame Selena has gone to contemplate. You must have persuaded her to not battle. But now, if we wish to not be dragged into the conflict, we must leave as well."

I nodded and our group retreated to get away from the battle.

Night fell across the land and news carried to us that Renais triumphed once again. We walked about the darkened path with the full moon as our only real source of light.

"I must say, Darian, that speech you gave back there surprised me." Joshua said.

"Yeah, who would have guessed you of all people would say stuff like that!" Colm said with a snicker.

"But, you kept saying things like "I can sense that you don't want to fight." What did you mean by that?" Neimi asked curiously.

I shrugged. "I can sense people's emotions." I said simply. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?" Cormag asked with great surprise. "I've never heard of such an ability."

"Really? I thought it was normal." I said. "I've been able to do this as long as I can remember. But then again, my memories only stretch as far as the first day I got here."

The others stared at me with amazement.

"It must be a special power only you have." Zel concluded. "Do you think that it has to do with you being the Bringer of Chaos?"

"Who knows?" I said with a sigh. "I always thought it was some kind of defense mechanism."

I could tell by the clueless expressions of my friends that they didn't know what I was talking about. "You know how animals have heightened senses?" I asked. The others nodded. "Well, I can tell whose friend or foe by looking into their heart and reading their emotion. I can sense the kind nature of them or if they are hostile towards me."

"What did you sense from Selena?" Zel asked.

I smiled. "I sensed many things. A mix of confusion, sorrow, determination. She had no real hostility towards me until I said I was the Bringer of Chaos, but after that little speech of mine, her emotion changed to pure sorrow. But I knew she wasn't an enemy. That's why I wouldn't fight her."

"That seems like a really cool ability." Neimi said. "I wish I had that kind of ability."

"It has its drawbacks." I explained. "You see, the person's emotion I sense has a powerful impact on me. When I sense their emotion, I gain that same emotion as well. Let's say; if I were really happy when I look into your heart, Neimi, but you're crying because Colm made fun of you, I would feel saddened as well. Heck I may even start crying depending on how intense your sadness is."

"Have you ever looked into my heart, Darian?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I like to stay happy thank you."

"Wha-What's that suppose to mean?!" She yelled. Everyone else chuckled a little.

I glanced up the path before us. Someone was standing there, looking in our direction. The darkness of night prevented me from telling who it was, but they appeared to be on the back of a horse. We got closer and I quickly could tell who it was.

"Selena!" I shouted. "What are you doing here?"

She got off her horse and walked over to us. "I've done much thinking after what you had said to me." She said. "I want to do what's best for our people."

"That's great." I said.

"What will you do now?" She asked.

"I want to find out why I'm the Bringer of Chaos. I want to prevent my destiny."

She then reached a hand before me. "Do you have room for one more in your little team?" She asked. "I want to help you find the answers you seek. If you will let me join you of course."

"Let you?" I asked excitedly as I shook her hand. "We would be honored to have you in our group, General Selena!"

And that is how the Fluorspar General came to join our band of warriors.

Myrrh was standing outside the town we were just recently in. It was where the Renais army decided to stay that night. She stared blankly at the moon. I came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped, startled by my presense. I then handed her the dragonstone.

"You got it back." She said happily.

"I promised you, didn't I?" I replied. I then turned to leave.

"Wait, Darian!" Myrrh shouted as she ran up to me. "Where are you going? Why did you leave in the first place?"

I gave her a kind smile. "I've just got some soul searching I need to do right now. The others are helping me out. We'll meet back up with you guys soon."

She watched me leave and I couldn't help but wonder where I could possibly go after this. Where could I go to find out more about my role in the world's end? I had no idea. There had to some place. Some where that would tell me the answers I need. But where?...


	10. Cast the Sails

CHAPTER 10: CAST THE SAILS!

While everyone else was eating breakfast the next morning, I was glancing at a map of the continent and pointed to one particular place that was labeled 'Darkling Woods'.

"What's Darkling Woods?" I asked.

"It's a place believed to be where all the monsters are spawning at." Cormag explained.

An idea came to me then. I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it was worth a try. "We're going to back track a bit." I said. "We're going back to the port town we were just at before we parted ways with the army."

"Why are we going back there?" Colm asked.

"We're going to take a ship and go around the continent. Our destination is Darkling Woods." I replied.

"But why are we going there?" Zel asked.

"Cormag just said that the monsters are spawning from there, right?"

"That's also were the Dark Temple is." Neimi noted. "That's where the Demon King was sealed away at."

That last bit about the Demon King was enough to convince me to go there. A mysterious temple where the lord of darkness was imprisoned seemed the best choice for the Bringer of Chaos to go and figure things out.

"It's there that I will most likely find out more about the prophecy that says that I'm going to end the world." I explained.

Everyone was quiet and lost in their own thoughts. Then Joshua spoke up. "How do you intend on getting a ship?" he asked.

"We take one." I said.

"Take one?!" Everyone exclaimed simultaneously. They seemed quite surprised.

"Well, yeah. How else would we get one?"

"Stealing is wrong!" Neimi shouted.

"Your boyfriend's a thief." I retorted. "Don't lecture me about how stealing is bad."

"Colm's not my boyfriend!" She cried out. Her face turned about three different shades of red.

Cormag was giving me an odd look. "How exactly do expect to steal a ship?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." I said. "But right now we need to get to that port town."

"That port town happens to be in Grado, correct?" Selena asked.

"Yes. Why?"

She gave me a sharp glare. "I will not allow you to take a ship from there. I may be on your side now, but I will not permit you to steal from my home land."

"You don't have to help me." I said. "But the sooner we get to Darkling Woods, the sooner I can figure out how to stop my destiny." It was obvious that my comrades didn't care for my poorly planned out plan. But what else was I supposed to do? If we took the long way by foot then we would be traveling for weeks. But if we went by boat, we could arrive in only a few days.

Selena sighed. "Stealing a ship? That idea is beyond ludicrous. At least let me handle getting the ship. The sailors will do as I say since I'm one of the Grado generals."

With that said, the seven of us made our way back to the port town. It took several hours and it was already late in the evening when we arrived there. We found the dock that all the massive ships were parked at. Selena talked to some of the sailors and sure enough, she got us a ship.

"We depart at dawn." She said.

"Why do we have to wait till tomorrow to leave?" I asked impatiently.

"The crew won't be ready before then."

"We're not taking a crew." I said sternly.

Everyone stared at me with surprise. They seem to do that a lot these days.

"Why aren't we taking a crew?" Cormag asked.

"Can seven people manage a ship?" I asked Selena.

"Well...yes but..."

"Then we don't need a crew. The less people we take to Darkling Woods the better. No offense to the three Grado soldiers in our party, but I don't think it's wise to trust everyone we meet from this kingdom."

"Fine." Selena said reluctantly. "I'll tell them we don't need a crew. But we won't leave port until tomorrow."

I was about to protest but Cormag stopped me. "Besides," he said. "We need to be prepared and well rested to set sail. We've been traveling all day. We can't handle a ship when we're this tired."

I knew he was right. "Alright, let's go rest up at an inn." I said. "But we move out first thing in the morning."

They all agreed and we went to the nearest inn. We were given our own separate rooms and we slept for the remainder of the evening and night.

The next morning we boarded the ship and set sail. The wind was on our side. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Everything was looking fine. (Those last three sentences rhymed?) Neimi and Colm climbed up into the storks nest and stared out into the vast ocean. Zel was exploring the ship while Joshua took to the wheel. Yup everything was going great, until I heard Cormag vomiting over the side of the ship.

"You ok?" I asked.

"No." He replied sickly. "I'm far from ok."

"Have you ever been on a ship before?" Selena asked.

"No. This is the first time." Then he vomited again.

I heard Colm up from the storks nest shouting in an immature little kid's voice, "Ewwww! Cormag's puking!"

"Shut up, Colm!" I shouted back. Then I turned to Selena. "Don't you have any healing techniques to cure sea sickness?"

"I'm afraid I don't." She replied. "The most we can do is let him rest until he gets used to sailing."

"How long will that take?"

"It depends on the person really. I remember a while back when I was sailing on a ship; we had a new sailor who had never been on a voyage before. He was sick for almost a week."

"I really hope I'm not sick for a week." Cormag said.

"Were should we put him so he can rest?" I asked.

"The captain's room." Selena replied. "It will be the most comfortable spot on the ship." Selena and I helped Cormag into the captain's room. The room was big and tidy. Maps were lined up everywhere. A desk was placed in the center of the room. A fancy dresser with a mirror on it sat at the left wall and a large bed was against the right wall. We laid him down on the bed and threw the blankets over him. I stood up to leave but then I noticed Selena wasn't coming.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'll stay here and watch over Cormag." She replied.

Awww! That's sweet of her. Watching over him like mommy would. I left the captain's room and went to join my other companions. Joshua was steering the ship while Colm and Neimi were still hanging out in the Stork's Nest. Zel was still off exploring the ship and was nowhere to be seen.

"How's it going, Captain Joshua?" I asked.

He smiled back at me. "Not much. How about you, first mate Darian?"

I shrugged. "Trying to keep Cormag from dying I suppose."

Colm then shouted from the storks nest, "SHIP HO!!"

Both me and Joshua just stared at him. "WHAT?" We called back.

"Some ships are approaching ours." Neimi replied.

"Is it an enemy?" I asked.

"They're Grado ships!" The archer shouted back. "There's about six of them!"

We watched as a large ship, similar to ours, pulled up beside us. The sails were red and had the Grado crest on it. I felt my heart sink upon seeing it.

One of the crew members of the opposing ship, who had short brown hair that was slicked back, blue armor and an axe strapped to his back peered at us. Joshua seemed to notice the man and his face turned pale.

"Joshua? Is that you?" The man on the other ship shouted.

"Caellach?" Joshua said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

The man, apparently named Caellach, threw a wooden board across his ship that reached over to ours. He walked across the board and got on our ship. His crew didn't seem too pleased by this.

"Carry on without me, boys." He called back. "You can tend to the ship by yourself."

The crew grumbled but did as he said. The ship pulled away from ours and sailed on.

Caellach then turned to Joshua. "So, what are you doing out here, kid?"

"Er…Sailing, what's it look like?" Joshua replied nervously. "What are you doing out here?"

"Me?" Caellach asked with a grin. "I'm leading my troops over to Jehanna. I didn't feel like crossing the desert so we're going to dock at a port and take things from their."

Colm and Neimi came down from the stork's nest and stood beside me. "Who's your friend, Joshua?" Colm asked.

"This is Caellach, we fought together a lot when we were mercenaries." He replied.

"That's right." Caellach said proudly. "Joshua's sword with my axe, we were an awesome duo. No one stood a chance against us."

"Darian uses and axe too." Neimi said. "She's really strong."

"Yeah, you guys should duel each other." Colm joined in. "That would be cool."

"Er…Yeah. That would be cool…" Joshua said.

"You gonna introduce me to the crew or not?" Caellach asked Joshua.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." he replied. "These guys there are Darian, Neimi, and Colm. We have another person on the ship named Zel, but he's off exploring somewhere."

"Is that so..." Caellach said with sudden interest. "Surely there's more crew than just that?"

"No. It's just us five." He said.

"Such a small crew! I'm surprised you got anywhere at all."

Caellach then decided to look around the ship. Joshua turned the wheel over to Neimi and whispered to me; "Tell Zel to hide his armor. He can't be seen with it on. And then tell Selena and Cormag to stay hidden or lock the door to the captain's room."

"Why?" I asked.

"Caellach is one of Grado's generals. If he finds out they're on this ship then we're all dead." Joshua replied. "He has an entire armada with him. There is no way we stand a chance against their numbers."

It was true. The six ships intended on following our ship for some time. This made me feel greatly on edge, knowing that I would have to be on guard every second of the day.


	11. Caellach

CHAPTER 11: CAELLACH

I had informed Zel, Cormag, and Selena about what had happened. The Grado armada was now following our ship for the time being. Joshua managed to lie about every possible detail, but Caellach still refused to leave the ship.

Another thing I had learned was that sailing got really boring after a while. I also learned that the more boring it was the more annoying, and mean Colm got. He made Neimi cry thirty-four times, Joshua also seemed to be getting sort of edgy as well. I suppose he was stressed about the fact he had to keep making up new lies to satisfy Caellach's curiosity. I would be on edge too if I were him.

Other than that, Selena and Cormag never left the captain's room. Cormag was getting over his sea sickness and Selena still watched over him. I had offered to watch over him awhile so she could get some fresh air but she absolutely refused to leave his side. Actually, she never left the cabin even through the night.

The entire day had pretty much progressed like this; boring and having to deal with everyone complaining. I know I did my fair share of it too. To think, our first day on the ship wasn't even over yet and we were sick and tired of being at sea. Night eventually crept into the sky and we welcomed it with open arms. One day was down and only two more to go. Selena said that it would take three or maybe even four days to get to Darkling Woods depending on the weather. Now all we needed to do was figure out the night the order every one was going in for our night shifts.

"I'll steer the ship first," I said to my fellow crew members. "The rest of you can get some rest."

"Wake me in an hour and I'll take over for you." Joshua said.

"I'll go after Joshua." Neimi offered. "And Colm can go after me."

So it was decided. I would go first, then Joshua, then Neimi, then Caellach (He insisted on steering at least once. We agreed to let him so he wouldn't get suspicious.), and finally Colm. I took the wheel and the others had gone to bed in the crew's sleeping quarters.

I felt like I had been steering for hours. I most likely had been. I wanted the others to be well rested. I was responsible for everything that was going on and since I was responsible, I felt that I should do more than my "fair share". I should steer the ship for the whole night if I was able to. And I intended to. But my eyes felt heavy and I could barely keep awake. Then I heard someone's footsteps coming over to the wheel. It was Caellach. He looked a little surprised to see me.

"You're still out here?" He asked.

I nodded. I was too tired to give a verbal answer.

"It's late." He went on. "You should have gotten Joshua up hours ago. If I calculate right, the sun will be rising in only a few hours. You've been sailing all night."

"Is that so?" I asked quietly.

"Get some sleep." He said. "I don't even know how you're still standing right now, but I'll take over from here." He pushed me aside and I gladly took him up on his offer. I went down to the crew's sleeping quarters and took one of the small cots. There were over a dozen of them but they all had stiff mattresses and pillows that felt harder than bricks. But none of that stopped me from falling asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

* * *

I was the last one to get up the next morning. When I emerged onto the deck, I found that it was late in the afternoon.

"Why didn't someone wake me up sooner?" I demanded.

Neimi walked over to me and folded her arms. "Caellach said you had been sailing all night."

I knew what this was going to lead to; another lecture from Neimi.

"You should know better than to do something like that." She scolded. "You need your rest just as much as we do."

"Yeah, well, I'm sort of the leader of this little band of misfits, aren't I?" I asked. "And as leader, I need to do more than my allies."

She sighed. "And if you get sick from not sleeping enough then you're not going to be able to lead us at all. You need to stop sacrificing your self like this. It's not healthy."

Joshua had come over to join in on our discussion. "You also need to quit blaming yourself for everything and stop feeling like you need to pay us back. We're friends. We help each other through all the rough times."

"Alright. Alright." I said in annoyance. "Stop lecturing me already. I get. I won't do something like that again. Are you happy now?"

They both smiled and simply said, "Yup."

I looked around cautiously to make sure Caellach wasn't around. To my relief he was no where to be found. "I'm going to go check on Cormag and Selena." I whispered.

I went into the captain's room and saw that Selena was putting a wet wash cloth on Cormag's forehead. Genarog was sleeping close by them.

"How's he doing?" I asked.

"A little better." She said. "He should be in perfect condition by tomorrow."

"Good." I said.

"We heard from Neimi that you had been steering all night." Cormag said. "You shouldn't do stuff like that."

"It's fine." I said. "I didn't stay up all night. Caellach took over for me."

Both of their faces went pale. Selena reached over to the desk in the room and pulled out a compass from one of the drawers. Upon looking at it she whispered, "My god, Darian. What have you done?"

"What do mean?" I asked.

Cormag glanced at the compass in the general's hand and he shook his head. "You're as good as dead now." He said. "Selena, we have to stop him."

She nodded. Cormag hoped out of bed and grabbed his spear. Selena threw open the door and she, Cormag and Genarog stormed out of the room. I followed.

Caellach was steering the ship at that moment but was quickly attack by Cormag's spear. He managed to jump aside from the attack at the last moment.

"Ah, so you two have finally emerged." Caellach said in a sinister tone.

"Hey, what's going on?" Joshua asked.

"We're headed in the opposite direction. Some one turned us around in the middle of the night!" Selena exclaimed.

Joshua glanced at the compass. "No, it can't be!"

Neimi and Zel rushed over to us when she heard the commotion and Colm climbed down from the storks nest. He didn't seem to catch the conversation up till that point. "Either all the port towns are starting to look alike or we're going back to the one we just left yesterday."

"Great observation there, Sherlock." I said in a sarcastic tone.

Joshua looked utterly appalled by all this. "But…How?"

Caellach let out a sinister laugh. "I knew about you all from the start. Some of the survivors from the battle you were **supposed** to lead, Selena, told me about what had happened. Now you and Cormag are traveling with the Bringer of Chaos. Who would have guessed? Now I can capture the two traitors and the Bringer of Chaos all at once."

"Do you think you'll get away with this?" I asked. "If you haven't noticed, it's seven against one. You're a little out numbered here."

With what seemed like lightning fast speed, he seized Neimi around the neck and held her over the side of the ship. "One false move and the girl swims with the sharks." He threatened. Neimi struggled against his grip and whispered a weak plea for help.

"Neimi!! No!!" Colm cried out.

"That's low, Caellach." I sneered.

"Do you think I care?" He asked with a dark grin on his face. "Now drop all your weapons and the kid goes free."

Cormag stepped forward, his weapon bared. "You can't threaten us like that."

But I saw that Caellach was serious about this. His hand slowly began to loosen its grip around Neimi's neck. "STOP!" I shouted. I tossed my axe down to the floor. "Throw down your weapons."

"Are you crazy?!" Cormag shouted. "He won't let Neimi go, no matter what we do."

"I don't go back on my word." Caellach said. "Do as I say and your friend's life will be spared."

I looked at my comrades, waiting for them to do something, but they all stood there, motionless. "For god's sake, throw down your weapons. We can't risk Neimi's life like this. Just do it." I said.

"No don't!" Neimi tried to shout as best she could. "It doesn't matter what happens to me, take him down."

But we didn't listen to her. Everyone tossed down their weapons and waited for Caellach to free Neimi.

"I think I'll keep her like this." Caellach said thoughtfully. "To insure that you don't try anything. Once we reach port, I'll turn you in and Emperor Vigarde can decide what he wants' to do with all of you."

We had no choice but to watch as he held Neimi over the side of the ship. Caellach ordered one of us to steer us into the port town. Joshua did so and in less than an hour, we were docked at port. Upon reaching the port, Caellach summoned Grado soldiers to board the ship, bind us, and take us to Grado Keep. We didn't fight back. We were greatly outnumbered and we knew there was no way we could fight them. It was to be our inevitable fate to be taken to Grado's capital.


	12. Inner Darkness

CHAPTER 12: INNER DARKNESS

The jail cell was cold and damp. Me and my seven companions were thrown into one cell were we awaited our inevitable fate. I let out a deep sigh as I gazed at my comrades' solemn expressions. Neimi sniffed here and there and a few tears streamed down her face. Colm kicked the ground in frustration. Joshua kept glancing at me with a look of despair. We all looked down right pathetic.

The guards had confiscated all our weapons, medicines, and just about anything else that was on us. All except Marth. They just thought it was a piece of junk and let me keep it. Same with Neimi's mirror. Or maybe they just let her keep it because they didn't want to deal with her throwing a sobbing fit if they took it from her...

Sadly, on the list of taken items was Colm's picklock. Without that, there was no hope of getting out. I had never felt so powerless in all my life. The only thing I could bring myself to say to my friends was, "I'm sorry, everyone."

"For what?" Joshua asked.

"I got you all into this." I replied. "I wish I hadn't gotten you involved."

Colm punched the ground. I'm sure he knew the dirt couldn't feel pain, but it seemed to help him get his anger out. "Don't start apologizing." He told me. "We came with you on this journey on our own free will. It's not your fault."

Joshua looked around at all of us. Out of this depressing group, he looked the most saddened. "It's not your fault, Darian. It's mine."

"Don't you start it." I said to him.

"But it is." He argued. "I should have attacked Caellach when I had the chance. Instead I did nothing. Gods, I was such a fool!"

"What's going to happen to us now?" Neimi's voice was shaky from her crying.

"We'll be killed soon." Selena said. "Cormag, Zel, and I been branded traitors and you are the enemies. It's only a matter of time before the executioner comes to take us away..."

No one said anything. The only noise that could be heard now was the sound of mice scurrying about here and there and the sniffles Neimi made. I tried to stay strong. For my friends sake, I had to. But I couldn't help but picture us, hanging from the gallows and a wave of terror overflowed me.

Just then, we heard foot steps coming toward our cell. A soldier approached the cell and looked in on us through the bars. "Which one of you is the Bringer of Chaos?" He asked sternly.

I pointed to myself. "That'd be me. What do you want?" I asked.

"Prince Lyon wishes to speak to you in privacy."

"For what reason?"

"I wasn't told that. I was just sent here to escort you to his chambers." He pulled out a key and opened the cell door. He seized a hold of my arm and forced me to my feet. Then the soldier pulled me out of the cell and slammed the door shut, locking it back up again. I looked over to my companions. "I'll be alright." I whispered to them. The soldier then led me through the dungeon. Behind me, I heard Neimi sob even harder and Colm let out a roar of anger.

"You harm her in any way and I'll kill you!" I heard Joshua shout out.

"That goes double for me!" Zel added.

The soldier ignored their threats. I couldn't help but smile. I had such great friends. The soldier led me out of the dungeon and into the corridors of the castle. Then he took me to the end of one hallway and stopped before a closed door. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Send her in." The voice said weakly. The soldier opened the door and shoved me into the room. He shut the door again and I heard his footsteps against the stone floor fade away.

"I've been expecting you, human of the prophecy." The voice came again. The voice belonged to a young man with long light purple hair. He wore robes that suggested he was of royalty.

"So, your Prince Lyon, eh?" I asked.

He nodded and stared into my eyes. His gaze was a little unnerving and I couldn't help but ponder what he was going to do to me. _Prince Lyon...He's one of Eirika and Ephraim's dearest frien_ds. I thought to myself. _But which side is he on? Will he help me if I tell him I'm a friend of Eirika's, or will he kill me because I'm the one the prophecy foretold the coming of?_

The look he gave me though, suggested something more. His eyes looked solemn and pained. "You're Eirika and Ephraim's friend, right?" I asked him.

"Eirika? You know Eirika?" He asked almost urgently.

"Yes, she's a good friend of mine. She's really worried about you."

"Is she safe?"

"I'm not sure... I haven't seen her in a long time."

He looked down at the floor. "Eirika..." He murmured longingly.

"Eirika's strong." I assured him. "She's alright. I know it."

He turned around and walked over to his desk. He reached into one of the drawers and pulled out something from it.

"Take this." He said to me as he handed me the object. It was a strange transparent stone with a golden cross shape in the center of it.

"What is it?" I asked him as I stared in awe at the stone.

"An odd crystal that holds untold power within it. It will give you strength." He then gazed into my eyes once more. "Please. Protect Eirika. I'm afraid I'm the cause of all this madness."

"You? How?" I demanded.

"I--" But he was cut off when he began coughing and wheezing. "Get out of here...Hurry!" He said weakly.

"Prince Lyon! What's going on?!" I cried out.

But just then, a terrible sinister laugh emitted from him. He stood up and the expression he wore now was no longer sorrow, but a twisted evil smile.

"Prince Lyon? He isn't available at the moment."

"W-who are you?" I asked nervously. "What are you?"

"Who am I?" He asked, "I am none other than the Demon King. And I can't wait to break free from this prison. This human body."

I felt myself trembling. I couldn't believe I was standing face to face with the Demon King. "W-what have you done to Prince Lyon?" I squeaked.

"I'm devouring his soul as we speak."

"You're killing him?!"

"In a sense, yes."

"You monster!!" I screamed, horrified.

"Now, I demand you give me back that stone that this little maggot gave to you."

I clenched the stone tightly in my hand. "You're not getting this back."

"GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" He roared.

"Forget it." I said, gathering up all my courage. "Besides, it must be pretty important to you if you're making such a big fuss about it. I think I might hold onto it for a while."

The demon king began laughing. You know, one of those "I've already won" bad guy laughs. "You don't even know how to use it." He said.

"I'll figure it out." I said in a mocking sort of way.

The demon king began to laugh evilly once again but then stopped as he then began thrashing about. "GET OUT OF HERE, DARIAN!" Prince Lyon shouted. "PROTECT EIRIKA AND EPHRAIM. PLEASE I BEG OF YOU!"

"SHUT UP YOU WEAKLING HUMAN!" The Demon King shouted.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Lyon screamed out.

I took this opportunity to run. I threw open the door and rushed out as quickly as possible. I shoved the stone in my pocket and dashed through the castle hallways as fast as my legs could carry me. _Prince Lyon has been possessed by the Demon King_? _But how and why_? I decided to ponder that later.

...If there was a later...

Right now, I had to find a way to get me and my friends out of here.

As I ran though the hall, I heard some voices from up a head. I looked around and saw a large window with curtains that draped past the floor. I dashed behind a window curtain. I peeked out to see three Grado soldiers walking along while talking to each other.

"I heard General Callach say that our army is going after Jehanna's Sacred Stone next." One of them said.

"Hope I'm not stationed there." Another soldier said. "I can't stand the desert heat."

"Same here," The third one added. After that, they continued to talk about other unimportant things as they walked through the hallway. I waited until I couldn't hear their voices any longer. I peeked out and saw that the coast was clear. I crept out of my hiding spot and picked up my pace once more.

I took a sharp turn down a corridor and ran into somebody. I fell to the ground and groaned a little. I quickly got back up to my feet, about to run from another Grado soldier. But the person in front of me wasn't a soldier, or at least, he didn't wear any armor to prove he was one. He had brown hair, a fancy blue jacket and a gold head band. I figured he was probably a mercenary.

"Why the rush?" He asked me as he stood up. "Well, aren't you a comely lass. What might you be doing here in Grado Keep?"

"What's in it to you?" I asked. As I ran past him, he grabbed me by my wrist and stopped me.

"Well, you don't seem to have any weapons on you. Now why would you be traveling in a dangerous place like this?" He asked.

I pushed him away and was about to make a run for it, but a soldier ran over to where me and the mercenary. "Mercenaries to arm! Prince Ephraim has invaded the castle!"

The mercenary looked bored almost. I tried to sneak away as he was distracted, but he grabbed me by my shoulder and pulled me back over to him.

"Hey, you." The mercenary called to me. "Let's strike a deal. You hire me to be your body guard."

I was taken back by his sudden proposal. "Why should I hire you to be my body guard?" I asked.

"Because, Grado doesn't need me and you're much cuter than the other guys I'm working for." He explained although it still didn't make much sense to me. "They have plenty of people working for them as it is. Besides, you don't have any weapons on you, do you?"

"No..." I admitted. "But why would you want to work for the Bringer of Chaos."

"Wait. You're the Bringer of Chaos?!" He cried out.

I watched him cautiously and didn't say anything. He backed away and drew his sword. "Alright, just stay back you little monster. I already know you're the one who's going to end the world. And...and only the gods know what else you can do."

"I can use an axe and annoy people." I said. "I don't have any other worldly powers that I'm aware of." Well, except for being able to read people's emotions. That's a handy one to have around, but I didn't feel it was necessary to read this guy.

"You can't fool me!" He said. "I know the rumors about you. Everyone talks about how you're some creature of darkness that attacks people with no feeling of remorse. You slaughter everyone in your path and..."

"If I slaughtered everyone in my path then you would be dead by now." I said.

He slightly lowered his blade. "Er...You have a point there I suppose."

"Listen, you're wasting my time." I said. "I have to go rescue my friends." I began to depart from his presence but he called back to me.

"Hey, wait! I'm a handy guy to have around." He said proudly. "I'll work for you if you promise to not murder me. "

_So he intends to get on my good side in hopes he won't be killed..._I thought to myself. _Oh, why not_? _It couldn't hurt to have more comrades around. Safety in numbers, right? _"Sure, what's you name?" I asked.

He gave a sort of formal bow and said, "The name's Rennac, and I'm a rogue. I'm at your service for 9,980 gold."

_9,980 gold?! That's robery!_ I was just about to argue with him, but then I realized, if he's a rouge, then he could bust my friends out of here with no effort at all. I didn't have the money, but with it being seven against one...I knew he would see things my way sooner or later.

"All right." I said. "You're hired. I'll pay you as soon as we get out of here. But first, I need you to break a lock in the dungeon and free my companions."

"Got it." Rennac said. "Now, get behind me and I'll get you there safely." He drew his sword and the two of us ran to the dungeon. There were no soldiers standing guard to my relief. They must have rushed to the battle. That made our job easier. As we ran through the dungeon, I turned my head to the left of me and saw someone in one of the cells. He wore black robes and was staring helplessly at the ground. I stopped and decided to address him.

"Hey you!" I called. He turned to look at me. He had grayish-purple hair and he looked pretty weak. I guessed he had been down there for quite some time.

"Are you the executioner?" He asked.

"What? Not even close. The name's Darian. And you?"

"I'm Knoll."

"Why are you locked up in this cell for?"

"Because I knew too much."

"Are you on Grado's side?"

"I was. But Prince Lyon has been taken over by the Demon King. I have no reason to stay."

I turned to Rennac. "Bust him out." I said.

"Are you crazy? We don't have time!" He argued.

"Then you'd better work fast."

Rennac sighed and pulled out an odd looking key. Then he shoved it into the cell's lock. He twisted it a little and then we heard a faint clicking noise. He pulled the door open and motioned for us to go.

"You're free now." I said to Knoll. "Better get moving before the soldiers come." I ran after Rennac through the halls, searching for my friends' cell. I found the cell and rushed over to it. "I'm back!" I said triumphantly. "You guys ok?"

"We should ask you the same thing!" Cormag said. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later, there's no time for that now. Rennac, break the lock." I ordered. Rennac thrust his key into the lock and twisted it. The lock clicked and he swung the door open.

"Now, let's get out of here, shall we?" He said.

"Um, Darian, whose this?" Neimi asked as she pointed to Rennac.

"Meet our new team member," I said. "His name is Rennac and he's a rogue."

"Ok, and what about him?" She said and pointed next to me. I was a little confused and when I turned, I saw Knoll standing right beside me. I jumped a little. I hadn't even noticed he followed us.

"Um..That's Knoll, he's a...a..what are you?" I asked.

"I'm a shaman. I specialize in the dark arts." he replied.

"So, Knoll, are you coming with us or what?" I asked.

"I have no where else to go...If it's going to be a burden, then I'll just vanish."

"N-no. I would love to have you with us." I said. "But we probably should get out of here."

Everyone agreed to that plan and our team made our escape. We avoided as many soldiers as we could as we fled through the castle corridors. I overheard some of the soldiers say that Ephraim was about to battle Emperor Vigarde. As much as I was interested in seeing the battle, I knew that our lives were in great danger if we stayed. Eventually, we found the doors to the outside. We flung them open and fled to the outdoors.

We headed into a nearby forest. We continued our stride until the castle was completely out of sight. We stopped to rest and catch our breath. I did a head count and saw that everyone made it out unharmed.

"Hey, guys," I said happily. "We did it. We're safe."

"For now." Cormag added.

"Alright, Darian," Joshua said. "Explain what happened. What did Prince Lyon want with you?"

I told them everything about Prince Lyon, the Demon King, the strange stone I took from him, and lastly, Grado's plan to attack Jehanna. When I had finished, everyone was silent.

"Possessed by the Demon King...What a tale." Cormag said as he seemed even more exhausted than before.

"We need to head to Jehanna as soon as possible." Joshua said. "We can't let Grado destroy another stone."

"But now what are we going to do?" Neimi asked. "We don't have any weapons, and no money on top of that."

Rennac shot me a sharp glare. "You told me you would pay me once we got out side of the castle."

"Well, I lied." I admitted. "But I was in desperate need of your help. Without you, there's no way we could have gotten out of the castle. I'll pay you once I get the money. I don't go back on my word."

"Looks like I'm tagging along then." He said in an annoyed tone.

"But we can't let Rennac do all the work." Neimi protested.

"And we won't." Colm said. He wore a dark grin on his face.

"What's up, Colm?" I asked. He laughed as he threw off his cloak, revealing a white sack that he was carrying underneath it. He opened the bag and let the contents fall out. A few swords, knives, spears, axes and a bow and arrows fell to the ground.

"Colm the master thief, at your service." He said proudly. "I don't think Grado's going to be missing these to awful badly."

"Colm, you freak'n rock!" I shouted happily.

"Yes, not bad." Rennac said. "But did you manage to take any gold while you were at it?"

"Well, no..." Colm admitted. "We were in a rush and we need the weapons most."

"Too bad, little urchin." Rennac said, snidely. "It's a shame I wasn't the one to steal anything, otherwise I would have gotten some gold to put in our pockets."

"What'd you call me?" Colm demanded.

"A little urchin." He replied. "For a thief you have pretty bad hearing."

"I'll show you!" Colm shouted as he charged for Rennac. Needless to say, I knew it was going to be a long trip to Jehanna.


	13. The Cursed Weapon

CHAPTER 13: THE CURSED WEAPON

"Stop calling me a poor urchin!" Colm shouted at Rennac. "Man, I've never met anyone as annoying as you!"

"Oh, don't be so sensitive, little urchin." Rennac jeered. "Maybe if you make more money and improve your skills then you might be someone worth keeping around like me."

"First of all, I don't want to be like you! Second of all, I'll show you!"

And that was how I was awakened that morning. I saw Colm and Rennac fighting again. "What are they arguing about this time?" I asked Joshua.

He let out a sigh. "What do you think? The same thing they've been fighting about the past three days."

Three days had passed sense we escaped from Grado Keep and it only took three days for those two to realize that they really hated each other. Normally when two people fight, I let them deal with it, but my patience with those two was wearing thin.

I stepped in between them and pushed them apart. "ENOUGH!!" I roared. "I'm tired of this. Day in and day out is nothing but you two constantly arguing. You're both good thieves. Why do you have to fight over whose better?"

"Because," Rennac said simply. "I'm far more superior than this little urchin."

"Stop calling him that." I ordered. "He's still my friend and I'm not going to stand by and let you insult him like this. Just do us all a favor and shut up."

I think I ticked Rennac off pretty bad. That cocky little expression he had on his face turned to sheer anger. "Well, if you have so much confidence in this little friend of yours then why don't you have him steal the money you owe me? Maybe he can get you out of the hole you dug for yourself into."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"It's been three days and I've yet to see a cent go to my pay."

"You'll get your money."

"Why of course," He said in a sarcastic tone. "And it'll be on the same day that the Renais king comes back from the dead."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"It's obvious that you make promises you can't keep. Your word's as good as dirt."

By this point, Rennac had realized that I didn't have any special abilities that could harm him. That's most likely why he had the gal to say that to me. I curled my hands into a fist and was about to punch the guy square in the face but then we heard rustling in the bushes. Some one was watching us.

"Come out." Selena ordered.

Several men in torn up and tattered cloths appeared from the bushes. They each held a sword or an axe and approached us. They were snickering as they moved closer, attempting to surround us.

I knew what was going on. We were about to get mugged. That was the only thing I could think of. These guys were thieves and made their living from robbing helpless travelers. Too bad for them, but we weren't helpless travelers.

"Give us all your money." One of them said. See? I was right.

"Sorry," I said. "We don't have any."

"We'll be the judges of that." The same ruffian said. He ran over to us with and raised his sword into the air. Knoll casted a Flux spell and knocked him back as well as causing massive damage.

I pulled out the battered axe Colm had stolen from the castle and charged at one of the enemies. I hacked away at him before he could even get an attack in. The others were having no problems with their opponents either and in no time at all, the group had been defeated. Their limp bodies lay on the ground.

"I heard some travelers talking yesterday." Neimi said. "Apparently, bandit attacks are really common in this area. They said that their hideout was some where in this forest."

"Really?" I asked.

"We had best get out of this forest then." Cormag said. "The last thing we want is to be attacked in the middle of the night."

"I say we raid their hideout." Colm said.

"Absolutely not!" Selena shouted.

"Aw, come on!" The blue haired thief whined. "Those bandits were easy to beat up. I bet we could take them all down with ease."

"Only a child would come up with such an idiot plan." Rennac sneered. "You may not have heard the rumors, but I did. Those bandits we just killed are part of a large group. There's no way we could defeat them all."

"It's worth a try." Colm said. "Then we could take the money and we wouldn't have to worry about being completely broke. And then we can afford food and decent weapons."

I glanced at the worn down axe in my hand. Cracks and dents ran along it's surface. It was the only weapon in my possession and it looked as if it wasn't going to last another fight without completely shattering.

"We're not sneaking into the bandit's hideout." Selena said. "It's to dangerous."

The subject wasn't pressed any further and we continued on our way.

* * *

We went a whole day of traveling and found a cave to sleep in for the night. We wasted no time in falling asleep that night but one person would keep watch and we'd change shifts every hour or so. Soon, my turn came late in the night and I didn't waste any time in waking up Colm.

"Colm. Colm get up." I said as I shook the thief awake.

"What do you want?" He groaned. "This had better be important."

"I need you to help me out with something." I whispered.

"You need me to help you...in the middle of the freak'n night?" He didn't seem to pleased.

"Yep. We're going to sneak into the bandit's hideout."

This got his attention. "Seriously? Do you know where it is?"

"I do. I asked Neimi if she heard the travelers say where it was and she told me. You've snuck into bandit's hideouts before, haven't you?"

He nodded vigorously. Excitement sparked in his eyes. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go steal some bandits treasure!" I had to put my hand to his mouth to quite him down.

"The other's don't need to know what we're up to." I hissed.

"Don't need to know what?" Neimi asked sleepily.

"Nothing." I said, trying to sound casual. "Nothing at all."

"They're going to sneak into a bandits hideout." Knoll said.

I glared at him. "I heard you two talking." He replied in his sort of emotionless but truthful tone. "And besides, we're in a cave. Everything echoes."

"You can't!" Neimi protested.

"How else are we going to get money?" I asked. I held up my axe. "Only God knows how many battles this axe has seen. It was in horrible condition when Colm took it from Grado. I need a new weapon!"

Knoll's stomach growled. "We're starving Neimi." I continued. "Grado striped us of everything but the clothes on our backs. All the items we took along for the journey were confiscated. Weapons, food, money; it's all gone."

She seemed disappointed. Most likely in me and my idea to get some one else involved in my ridiculous plots. "Alright, I see your point." She said quietly. "But Colm, you made a promise to me."

Colm sighed. "Which promise was that again?"

"You said that you wouldn't do any more dangerous stuff on your own."

"I'm not alone." He replied, obviously getting annoyed with her. "I'll have Darian and Knoll with me."

"When did I agree to come on this adventure?" The shaman asked.

"Two seconds ago." He replied.

"That makes me worry more." Neimi said. "The fact that you're taking Darian."

"Gee, thanks for the confidence booster their, Neimi." I said sarcastically.

"I'm coming with you." She said, determination filled her voice.

"Absolutely not!" Colm shouted. I had to cover his mouth again. "You are not coming!" He whispered.

"Try to stop me." She said.

He grumbled but knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind.

"Can we go now?" I asked. "I want to get back before sunrise."

Knoll lit a torch that would guide us through the plains and into the bandit's lair. Before we left, I made a note to the others. I took one of our spare knives and stuck the note into the ground.

"What's that for?" Neimi asked.

"It'll tell the others where we are in case they wake up before we get back." I explained. "Hopefully we return before then."

The four of us headed off into the night. In no time at all, we arrived at the bandit's hideout. It was a large ruin crafted of stones that appeared to have once been a fort. Torches barely burned around the collapsing area. We snuck in through the large hole in the wall and made our way into their lair. Bodies of people cluttered the area, each one snoring loudly. Many were holding jugs that I assumed contained ale in them.

"They must have had a party." Colm noted. "And the jerks didn't invite us."

We pushed open a door that led us into a dark room. "Do my eyes deceive me?" Colm said as he moved further in. "Why yes! It is! Here's a pile of gold!"

Knoll held the torch out in front of us and the fire's light revealed piles of gold, gems, and other valuables that must have cost a fortune. I quickly began stuffing my pockets with gold. The others were not far behind me, doing so as well.

Finally, I can get myself a good axe. We can eat regular food from shops and not have to hunt any more and maybe I can even get me some armor...

Just then, I remembered my debt to Rennac. 9980 gold. I realized my pockets probably wouldn't hold that much. I had noticed that Colm had grabbed his bag that he stowed away all his stolen items in. He was filling it with lots of gold and gems. Maybe I could bum some money off of him.

"Who the hell are you?!" We heard someone shout. We turned to see one of the bandits standing in the door way.

"Er...New recruits?" I said nervously.

"THEIVES!!" The bandit cried out.

"Like you're one to talk." Colm muttered.

Neimi pulled out her bow and shot an arrow at the screaming bandit. The arrow pierced through his chest, killing him instantly.

Sadly, she didn't kill him soon enough. Several other bandits had awakened when they heard their comrade shout. They grabbed their weapons, and we realized it was time to leave. We abandoned the treasure room and ran through the hallway to find it barricaded by other bandits. They chased us in the opposite direction and into the center of the ruins. The ceiling had collapsed, leaving the roof exposed to the sky above. We were then surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of bandits.

"Can we fight them all?" Neimi asked nervously.

I took out my axe. I wasn't sure about odds of us taking them all out, but I wasn't about to go down without a fight. Knoll followed me by taking out his magic tome. I began hacking away at the bandits in front of me, while Knoll launched a Flux spell. Colm left fatal wounds on the necks of some of the bandits using his knife, and Neimi shot arrows that rained down on the enemy. It was obvious that we had better fighting skills than the pack of scoundrels.

But then the leader showed up. I could tell just by looking at him that he was a Berserker class. He was huge, bulky, and carried an enormous battle axe. He must have been over six feet tall, he was bald, and all muscle. But the thing I noticed the most was the weapon he was wielding. It was an ebony black axe, bigger than any I had ever used. It was covered in blood stains but looked to be in perfect condition. It seemed as if it had never been used before.

I felt intimidated at the warrior before me. The other bandits backed away and made a large circle around me, each one snickering. "You're in for it now." I heard one say. Colm, Neimi, and Knoll tended to the other bandits and I was to do battle with the leader.

The Berserker raised his axe into the air and brought it down with powerful force at me. I jumped away from it just in time. I had to come up with a plan to counter him. I didn't want to admit it, but I knew he was much stronger than me.

He swung his axe at me once more. I tried to block it off with my axe, but his was more powerful and my axe shattered under the strength of his. That and I'm pretty sure my axe was used too much before it fell into my hands. Either way, I was weaponless now and had no way to defend myself.

"DARIAN!!" Neimi cried out as she saw the danger I was in. She launched an arrow at the back Berserker's hand, the hand that held his weapon. He let out a roar and dropped his axe. I quickly grabbed the axe and began swinging it around violently at him. I missed him with each swing. The weapon was heavier than I had expected but I could still lift it, that was all that mattered.

Just then, I felt a shock coarse through my body. Startled, I stopped swinging the axe but then a powerful wave of pain shot through me. It felt as if my blood was on fire and my muscles were being torn apart. I fell to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.

The bandit leader laughed menacingly. "It appears my Devil Axe doesn't like you very much."

"D...Devil Axe?" I asked weakly.

The others had stopped fighting to bear witness to this fight. "I've heard of the Devil Axe before." Knoll said. "It's a cursed weapon, that's known to hurt the wielder and some times worse..."

The bandit seized me around the neck and lifted me into the air. He took the Devil Axe in the other hand and reared it back.

Knoll launched a Flux spell at the Berserker. The dark magic attack landed a powerful blow against the warrior and he released his grip on me and his weapon. I was still in a great deal of pain, but I took the Devil Axe and chopped the guy in half from his waist.

Another burst of pain shot through me, just like before. I dropped the axe and collapsed to the ground. The others rushed over to me. "Do...Don't worry a-about me..." I said weakly. "Finish off the remaining bandits."

But the survivors had already began to flee the ruins. Colm and Neimi chased after them but Knoll stayed behind. He knelt down beside me and asked, "Are you alright Darian?"

"I...I'm fine-" But I was cut off as I began coughing.

"You don't sound fine." He said.

I coughed some more until I coughed up blood. Knoll's eyes widened. "Darian! Hold on!" He shouted franticly. He pulled me up onto his back. My body was limp and it hurt just to breathe. Was all this pain caused by the Devil Axe?

The others returned from chasing the bandits. "They got away." Colm spat. "How's Darian?"

"Terrible." Knoll said. "We need to get her to Selena immediately so she could heal her!"

We left the ruins as fast as we could. We traveled through the forest. Fatigue eventually reared its ugly head against Knoll who was unused to carrying some one on his back. Such manual labor was too much for him. Colm took over and carried me on his back. We soon made it back to the cave. The others wasted no time in awakening Selena.

"What's the problem?" She asked, still barely awake.

"Darian needs healed right away." Neimi replied. She was crying like always.

"Why?"

"We um...snuck into a bandit's hideout to steal some of their treasures..." Colm answered. We braced ourselves for her scolding.

"You did what?! What were you thinking?!" She demanded. "What on earth possessed you to do something like that without telling the rest of us?!"

Her shouting caused Cormag, Joshua, Zel, and Rennac to wake up as well.

"You can scold us later." Colm said as he laid me down on the ground. "Heal Darian first."

Selena looked me over. "She doesn't have many injuries." She said. "I don't see what the problem is."

Knoll revealed the Devil Axe. "Have you ever seen this weapon before?"

She took the axe and held it in her hand. "This weapon...Just holding it makes a chill run down my spine." She shuddered as she handed it to Cormag.

He examined it. "This weapon is beautiful and it looks as if it has barely been used." He said.

"The bandit's leader had it. He called it the Devil Axe." Knoll explained. "Have you heard of it?"

Cormag nodded gravely. "They say it's cursed. Possibly possessed by a demon. It's said to cause severe pain in the wielder."

"Darian's weapon broke and she used this thing." Neimi said. "She collapsed after swinging it a few times. Selena, isn't there anything you can do to help her?"

Selena shook her head. "I can only heal external injuries. Not internal ones."

I coughed up blood again. Neimi started crying harder. Joshua put his hand to my forehead. "I think she's running a fever."

"Could all this really be caused by that axe?" Rennac asked. "Can a weapon really cause someone to start coughing up blood and run a fever?"

"A cursed one perhaps." Cormag replied. "I'm sure the demons enjoy tormenting their victims."

"Can a weapon really be possessed?" The rouge asked.

I coughed again. I let out a moan. I couldn't stand this pain much longer. Every breath I took in caused a shock of pain to course through my being.

"I'm convinced." Zel said.

((Author's Note: I know some of the powers the Devil Axe has may seem a bit extreme, but any weapon that's believed to be cursed and can reduce the user's HP to less then half, has me convinced that it could have some other interesting abilities as well. After all, it's not the first time a weapon had a horrible effect on the user. After all, Valter went crazy after using a spear that could drive some one into madness.))


	14. Town Heroes

CHAPTER 14: TOWN HEROES

That night only grew worse for me. My fever had spiked up and the pain in my body had grown worse. I became delusional, and thrashed about. I was hallucinating from the fever and even tried to turn on my friends, believing they were enemies that were after me. It was as if I had become a wild animal. It was the longest and most horrifying night I had ever faced. I had begun to wonder if the sun would ever rise again...

I had eventually exhausted myself and fallen asleep. When I awoke early the next morning, I found Cormag holding my wrists down to the ground. He had fallen asleep as well. I tried to pull my arms free, but he awoke and gripped me even harder.

"That hurts!" I shouted.

"Are you sane again?" He asked.

"Sane...?" I then remembered the night. "How bad was I?" I asked.

Cormag looked annoyed. That sort annoyed someone is when they are lacking decent sleep. "I would rather have spent the night in a bear's den."

"Was I that--" I began to say, but he interrupted me.

"You see this?" He said as he pointed to a bite mark on his arm. "You did this."

"I bit you?!" I was shocked. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

His hardened expression didn't change.

"You want to go back to sleep?" I asked.

"Why, I would love to." He said, still aggravated.

"There's really no point in that." Selena said, sitting up from where she had been sleeping. "It's morning. We might as well start the march again."

Cormag grumbled. "I'm worn out. We all are. Let's just go back to sleep for a while."

"We need to get to Jehanna as soon as possible." Selena protested.

"Listen, you may mean well, but there's no way I could possibly march right now. None of us could."

"We have no choice. We'll never reach Jehanna before Grado does if we waste any more time."

His eye twitched with irritation. "We didn't sleep last night thanks to Darian!" Cormag shouted. "You didn't have to hold her down to keep her from hurting herself or some body else!" Every one else was awake at this point.

Selena was surprised by his reaction. "Stop it!" I shouted. "I'm sorry I cost you a good night's rest, but how was I suppose to know the Devil Axe would do any of that to me?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Sorry." He said. I pulled out a map. "There's a town near here." I said. "Let's go as far as there and we can rest at an inn. We have money now, we can afford a bed and even dinner tonight."

"That sounds great!" Joshua exclaimed. "Let's go somewhere else to sleep." The others didn't need to be persuaded. The thought of sleeping in a bed and not the dirt ground of a cave was appealing. We abandoned the cave and headed off to the town. The walk there felt like it lasted forever but that could have been due to our lack of sleep.

As we walked, Knoll approached me and said, "Are you feeling alright, Darian?"

I nodded. "I'm fine, why?"

"Last night...I was so worried. You were in so much pain."

I took out the Devil Axe and stared at it. "This thing is screwed up." I said.

"Please don't use that thing anymore." He begged. "I never want to have to see you in such pain again."

I shrugged. "I might have to. It's the only weapon I have right now."

"We have money now." Neimi said. "We can buy you a better weapon."

"One that's not possessed." Colm added.

"But...This axe is so powerful! I could take out anything with it."

Rennac raised an eye brow. "Yes, and take yourself out in the process. I don't particularly want my employer to kill herself with a demonic axe."

"I get your point, but it's just..." I couldn't explain it, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to part with the weapon. It felt important to me for some reason.

"Please get rid of the accursed thing." Zel pleaded. "For your sake, get rid of it."

"I'll think about it." I replied.

"Think about it?!" Cormag and Selena cried out. They sounded absolutely appalled by this. I understood why they were but...

"You will get rid of it." Cormag said. "If you don't then I will. That thing is not a weapon it's a death wish."

I stayed silent and stared at the large axe in my hands. I sighed as I strapped it to my back.

Selena muttered something to Cormag, low enough to where I couldn't make out what they were saying, but they kept glancing back at me. It made me feel uncomfortable.

"I see the village!" Colm shouted excitedly. "Finally! A bed and food!"

Even though we were all exhausted, we ran to the town. We found the inn and wasted no time in reserving rooms. After, we paid the clerk for a night's stay, we headed up to our individual rooms. But just then, the clerk stopped me.

"Were did you get that axe?" She asked as she pointed to the Devil Axe.

"I took it from the bandit leader after I killed him off." I replied.

"You destroyed the bandits?"

I motioned to my friends. "I wasn't alone. We all worked to defeat them."

"I don't believe it!" She exclaimed. "But that's clearly the leader's famed weapon." She reached back into the desk and pulled out the gold that we had given her. "Here, you can stay here for free."

I was completely speechless. "But...What?"

"Those bandits have caused nothing but trouble for this town for a long time." She explained. "They would raid this place on a daily basis or steal our belongings. We owe you all for what you have done."

"Thank you." I said. "Thanks a lot!"

I then headed to my room, feeling happy. Although our act at stealing the bandit's gold originally was intended for selfish reasons, fighting the bandits and destroying their leader helped out this town. They were free from the harassment of the bandits. Hurray for good deeds!

I slept like a log. I must have been out for hours. I leaped out of my bed, feeling refreshed and full of energy. I left my room and went down to the lobby. I turned to the person at the front desk and asked, "If my friends wake up and ask were I am, will you tell them I headed into town?"

"You're friends are already up." She explained. "They left me with a similar message for you as well."

That makes things easier. I left the inn and headed into the town. I walked by houses and small shops. I found a candy shop that I couldn't resist to go into. I have a weakness for candy. I bought some chocolate and I happily ate as I walked through the town.

Next I passed by an armory. I decided to take a look inside. I found suits of armor that looked like they could withstand any assault and powerful looking weapons. But the thing that caught my eye was the section of capes. I pulled out a nice red one and couldn't help but try it on.

"It suits you." The guy running the armory said. "I take it your a traveler."

I nodded. I pulled out the Devil Axe and began swinging it around, making sure that I didn't accidentally knock anything off the walls or break something.

"That weapon looks exactly like the bandit leader's Devil Axe." The man said.

"That's because it is." I said proudly. "I defeated him and took it."

"You? You defeated him?" The man seemed surprised. "But your so...Scrawny."

I glared at him. "I may be...short...but I'm crazy powerful."

He laughed. "Come to think of it, a shaman had popped in here not long ago. He said something about the bandits being defeated."

"Did he have short purple hair and seem sort of depressed?" I asked. The man nodded. "That's my buddy Knoll, so what did he say about them being defeated?"

"He said that the person who defeated the leader was a spunky, short tempered, arrogant, impatient, rude, ill mannered, little girl."

I clenched my hands into a fist. _Knoll's going to get it next time I see him!_

"I suppose you're the person he's talking about?" The man went on.

I nodded. I took the red cape off and put it back on the shelf. I then purchased a Silver Axe because I didn't want to rely too heavily on the Devil Axe. I needed to save the rest of the money I took from the bandit's hideout to pay off some of my debt to Rennac.

I left the armory and continued on. I walked by a shop that had a pink dress hanging in the window. I stopped to stare at it and thought, _that must be the ugliest thing I have ever seen._

"Have you decided to become a real woman and wear proper clothing?" I heard someone say behind me. I turned to see Rennac and Knoll standing behind me. Rennac was the one who made the smart ass remark.

"First of all, no. I would never be caught dead in something like that." I said.

"Why not?" Rennac asked. "I'm sure Knoll would enjoy it."

"W-what?!" I shouted.

"Ha! You're blushing!" The rouge snickered.

"I was going to pay you, but I've changed my mind now." I said.

"I'm only kidding with you. Knoll knows I was just kidding. Right, Knoll?"

"I think you would look...lovely in that dress." Knoll said to me. A small smile spread across his lips.

My face lit up and I turned to the ground so they wouldn't see. "Oh, yeah, I owe you this." I said to the shaman as I grabbed him around the neck and noggied him.

"Ow ow ow!!" He cried out. "D-Darian that hurts!"

"Good!" I shouted. "That's what you get for calling me arrogant, ill mannered, and little!"

"They make such a good couple..." Rennac said loudly enough for half the town to hear.

"Shut up. You're next." I said but the rouge was already gone.

I let go of Knoll and began to walk on through the town once more. Then I noticed that he was following me. It was a little odd. It was like he was a lost puppy or something. I then noticed a clothing shop. I turned to enter it and he followed me.

"Hey, since you're here, why don't you help me pick out some new cloths?" I asked the shaman.

"Sure." He said. "So what exactly do you want? A short sleeve shirt? A skirt?"

"No skirt." I said. "I hate skirts."

"You don't like skirts or dresses?" Knoll seemed surprised. "I thought all girls liked them."

"I'm not exactly a normal girl." I said. "I just don't like them. I don't like that feeling of exposure, you know?" Although I knew he wouldn't understand. The guy was wearing robes that looked like a dress.

I looked through the selections, grabbed the clothes I liked, and headed to one of the changing rooms. A full size mirror was sitting against the wall of the changing room. I hadn't realized until that point that I must have really stood out among everyone. I was wearing a plain black t-shirt, jeans with holes in the knees, and tennis shoes. The clothes were battered and I felt that I shouldn't allow myself to stand out anymore. I put on the new clothes I had chosen; a long sleeve blue shirt, half cut off white pants, brown work gloves and boots, and a black head band. To finish it all off, I added a long black cape. I was quiet impressed by my new look. I left the changing room and showed Knoll.

"Ta-da!" I said. "I've class changed!"

He gave me a skeptical look.

"You know…" I said, trying to get him to understand the joke. "When ever someone class changes, they get new clothes randomly."

He said nothing, obviously not finding the joke very humorous. "So um, what do you think?" I asked, changing the topic.

"You look great." He said. "But don't you think that you look a little...odd?"

"That doesn't matter to me." I said. I paid for the clothes with some of the money I was going to give to Rennac for his payment.

Knoll and I left the shop and headed to a magic store. The inside of the shop was eerie. Bizarre potions and herbs lined the walls. One shelf was stocked with magic tomes. I pulled out a dark purple book and read through its pages. The text was in another language entirely.

"That's a Nosferatu spell." Knoll said. "It's a special attack that robs the victim of their energy and transfers it into the caster."

"I didn't catch half of that, but alright." I said. "You only have that Flux spell book, don't you?"

He nodded. I took the book to the cash register and bought it. Then I handed it to Knoll. "Happy Birthday." I said.

"Darian, are you sure?" He asked. He took the book from my hand and gazed at its cover. "You used your own money to buy me a weapon?"

"Yep." I replied happily.

"Thank you." He said.

We departed the shop and found Joshua standing outside, gamboling with some stranger. The stranger handed him some gold coins and walked away.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Getting some cash." The myrmidon replied as he stuffed the money into his pockets. "After all, you guys didn't bother to take me along for your little adventure.

"My bad. I just didn't want to get too many people involved."

"You're lucky you made it out alive at all. Especially after last night. By the way, have you gotten yourself a new weapon yet?"

I pulled out my new Silver Axe.

Joshua gave a nod of approval. "Good, now you can get rid of the Devil Axe."

I didn't say anything. A part of me wanted to keep the weapon close to me, even though I knew my friends would never allow it. We heard the door to the shop that was next to the magic store open and Rennac walked out of it. He looked over at us and when I went to approach him, he began backing away.

"I'm not going to noogie you." I said. He still didn't take his cautious glare off me. I pulled out the small pouch my money was in and handed it to him.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Your money." I replied.

His eyes widened. "You're actually paying me?" He said in disbelief.

"Well, duh!" I said. "There's about 4050 gold in there. It'll pay close to half the amount I still owe you."

"Wow. I'm not used to getting paid." The rogue explained. "The last person I worked for never gave me a cent and dragged me around the whole continent while rambling on about justice."

"Well, now you're being dragged around the content while being paid." Joshua said. "I guess that's the better of two evils."

Rennac smiled a little. "I think I'm going to enjoy working for you."

((Author's Note: This chapter was pretty slow, but I think these guys deserved a slow day. After all, they've been running around or getting captured, they've earned some R and R. At least Darian and Rennac are starting to become friends and Darian's becoming really good friends will Knoll...))


	15. Terrors of the Night

CHAPTER 15: TERRORS OF THE NIGHT

Evening was approaching and my team met back up at the inn. We decided to go to the fanciest restraunt for dinner. We had only one goal in mind; order the most expensive meals we could get. Being loaded rocked! When we entered the restraunt, we were greeted by a waiter who led us to our table.

"We're not going to have any gold left if we keep spending it like this." Joshua noted. The rest of us laughed as each of us took our seats. We weren't used to having money, so it was a luxury for us.

The waiter had come by and he took our orders. Then Rennac said to him, "Bring out your finest wines and ales."

"Hey now!" I said. "Most of us here can't have any of that!"

Everyone stared at me in complete bewilderment. "Why?" Cormag asked.

"We're minors." I replied.

"Miners? Since when?" Colm asked. "That's pretty dangerous work there, Darian. A tunnel could collapse at any moment and kill us."

I smacked my forehead. "Not like that! I mean we're too young to drink alcohol."

Neimi, Zel, and Colm exchanged glances. "We are?" They all said simultaneously.

"Well, in my world it's like that. There are laws up to prevent kids from getting drunk."

"That doesn't exist in this world." Rennac said. "Just stop drinking before you get too tipsy."

The waiter came by with our drinks, giving us each a glass of wine. I took a sip and thought to myself; _this is going to be a fun night._

"So, we're leaving first thing in the morning?" Colm asked.

"Yes." Selena replied. "We'll have to hurry to make up for lost ground."

"This town's nice." I said. "Everyone's really kind. Life seems peaceful here."

Joshua took a few gulps of his wine and was about to pour himself some more from the bottle. "Hmm. You're right about that Darian. If we weren't on a big quest, I'd say we should just hang around here for a few days."

Just then, we heard screams from outside the restraunt. My comrades and I went to see what was going on. Several wyvern riders swooped down from the sky and started setting houses and shops on fire. Grado soldiers attacked the townsfolk and aided in the burning of the buildings. Then, a wyvern knight landed in front of us. He seemed to be the one leading the other soldiers. The knight had black armor, long blue hair and wore a sinister expression.

"Valter!" Cormag shouted.

The knight laughed evilly. "Cormag? Why I never would have expected to find you here. And Selena too?"

Selena grimaced. "How did you find us?"

"I was sent to track you down once you fled from Grado castle." Valter explained. "Then I was tipped off by some bandits who seemed to have a little run-in with your group. After all, we can't have the Bringer of Chaos running about now can we?"

"You're the one who's causing chaos!!" Colm shouted.

"Alright, you found us. Now stop attacking these people!" I ordered.

"Now why would I do that?" Valter replied. "I find this to be quite fun."

"Stop this!" Neimi cried out. "These people haven't done anything to you!"

"They didn't have to." He said with a chuckle. "I'm the Grado general known as the Moonstone. I can do whatever I please."

Soldiers continued their assault on the people. Everyone was running around, screaming or looking for their loved ones. I pulled out my axe and began attacking the soldiers. "LEAVE THEM ALONE!!" I screamed as I hacked away at them. More soldiers took the place of the fallen ones and turned their attention to me. I became out numbered as wyvern riders swooped from the skies, their dragon steeds clawing and biting at me.

Neimi shot arrows that killed the dragons in single shots while Knoll launched magic attacks at them. Rennac managed to pull me out of the fray.

"Darian! We can't fight these numbers." Cormag shouted.

"We can't abandon the townspeople." I protested. "We have to protect them."

"We're severely out numbered. We have to go!" Selena said.

I still refused to move. Cormag grabbed me and pulled me onto Genarog and flew off. Neimi and Selena hoped on the back of Selena's horse and the archer shot at the wings of the wyvern's that tried to pursue us. The others followed close behind us

I tried to fight against Cormag's grip but he held me still. "There's nothing we can do." He said. "The town is lost."

"No..." I whimpered. "We can still save them!"

I felt Cormag tighten his grip on me and his arms tremble. "I'm sorry." He murmured. But I knew it wasn't me he was apologizing to. It was for the people he was forced to abandon in their moment of need. All I could do was watch helplessly as the town behind me burned to the ground. The screams and pleas for help from the dying people filled the air but slowly grew fainter as we fled from them.

We went to the only shelter would could think of; the cave that we had stayed in the night before. "What do we do now?" I asked the others as we entered the cavern.

"Sleep." Joshua said. "That's about all we can do right now."

"I can't sleep!" I yelled. "Not after what we just witnessed. We should have fought against them! Not run away like a bunch of cowards."

"Live to fight another day." Zel said.

"What about all those innocent people?!" I cried out. "As we speak, they're being massacured by Valter and his soldiers just for their pleasure. You expect me to live with the guilt of leaving them to die?! Do you?!"

Cormag back-handed me across the face. "ENOUGH!!" He roared. "Do you think that any of us are perticuarly proud of that? You're not the only one here who feels awful about all this, Darian! You aren't the only one who will witness nightmares tonight! Nightmares of those people being slaughtered!" He turned away from me and walked over to the deepest spot of the cave. He sat down and said, "I'm ashamed of what my fellow soldiers are doing. Grado once stood for justice and the common good. Now it wastes away in a sea of chaos."

No one else spoke as they found a spot on the dirt ground to rest on. Everyone drifted off to sleep...It was the only thing we could do...

* * *

I had a horrible dream that night. I was alone in the burning town. Dead bodies were spread across the streets but no Grado soldiers could be found. They must have lost interest in the killing spree and left. I felt sick as I gazed upon the mutilated corpses. Then I heard a moan. I turned to see a little girl lying in a pool of her own blood. I knelt down and lifted her up. "Hold on!" I said. "I'll help you."

"No." She said. "I don't want your help."

"But why?" I asked.

"You caused all of this."

"But how could I--"

Then I heard a sinister laugh behind me. I turned to see Valter and his wyvern standing there. "Did you forget?" He asked. "You're the Bringer of Chaos, remember?"

"I didn't do this!" I cried out.

"You were brought here to end the world." He continued.

"No! I--" I then heard Ephraim's voice going through my mind.

_"You will bring chaos and destruction where ever you go."_

"Stop it!!" I cried out. "Stop please!"

_"You're destined to end the world."_

_"If you're allowed to live, you will cause the apocalypse."_

"STOP IT!!" I screamed.

Valter lifted his lance and held it before my throat. "Good bye, Bringer of Chaos." He cackled as he ran the lance through me.

I awoke immediately. A cold sweat ran down my face and I was breathing heavily. _It's my fault…_ I thought to myself. _It's all my fault…_


	16. Break Down

CHAPTER 16: BREAK DOWN

The sun began to rise as I stared at the burnt down village. The streets were stained in blood. No survivors were to be found. All the buildings were now reduced to ash. Sorrow washed over me. _All this is my fault_. I thought to myself. _Because I was brought here to end the world. Death and destruction follow me where ever I go...I am the Bringer of Chaos after all..._

Chaos. That single word was all that was needed to describe me. The label that I was branded with. 'I will end the world. I will cause the apocalypse.' I had grown quiet numb to those words. They didn't seem to bother me these days for I had grown used to them. But not today. It was all too painful on this day.

The only thing that kept me going through these troubling times were the presence of my friends. But why did they stay by my side when their own lives were in danger just by being near me? They were the only things I cared about now. I loved them all so much. I couldn't possibly bear to watch them suffer because of me.

_I have to be strong._ I told myself as I tried to push aside all these bad thoughts. _Grado's sending their soldiers to Jehanna. We have to get their as soon as we can. They can't destroy another Sacred Stone. But...What are we going to do when we get there? How can we fight off and entire army? It's impossible. _

_Besides, I would probably do more harm than good. I am the bringer of death and destruction. The one who will end the world._

Then it hit me. Why would the kingdom of Jehanna even want my help in the first place? _Who am I kidding? Why am I trying to save others when I'm supposed to be the one who's going to wipe out all existence? I'm nothing but a monster! A horrible monster! The prophecy said so. Ephraim and Duessel said so. Ephraim also said that if I'm allowed to live then it will endanger everyone's lives. I'm better off dead!_

The words had an odd feel to them. 'I'm better off dead.' For my friends' sake, I'd be better off dead. For this world's sake, I'd be better off dead. Then I felt a tear trickle down the side of my face. I was...crying? I realized that I had never cried in this world before. Why now?

I fell to my knees and sobbed. That's really all I could think to do at that moment. I heard footsteps come closer to me. Several of them.

"Darian?" I heard Colm say. "What are you doing out here?"

I didn't look at him. I buried my head into my arms. I felt the presence of my eight comrades as they each knelt down beside me.

"Have you been...crying?" Knoll asked.

"Y...Yes. I have..." I said shamefully.

"Why? Are you hurt?" Neimi asked with deep concern.

"There's just a lot on my mind right now."

"What exactly?" Joshua asked.

This is when I exploded. "What had happened last night is still weighing heavily on my conscious. All those people are dead because of me! This little race against the clock to get to Jehanna before Grado does has me pretty stressed out. But wait, why would Jehanna want me to help them? I'm the Bringer of Chaos. I'm going to be the one to end the world. Everyone hates me because of this stupid prophecy. I was exiled from the army. I may never see the friends from there again. I've torn Colm, Neimi, Zel and Joshua away from their friends as well. I'm a danger to everyone's lives. I can't do anything right. I'm better off dead!"

I slammed my fist to the ground at that last sentence and started crying again.

Selena put her hand on my shoulder. "What happened last night was not your fault. It was Valter's. He was the one who attacked the village, not you."

I laughed sarcastically. "You just don't get it, do you?" I asked. "Does the prophecy not ring any bells to you? It should. Your king was the one who showed it to you in the first place!"

"Darian, you're not the only one to witness something like this." Zel said. "This village is a repeat of what happened to my home."

Everyone grew silent and turned their attention to Zel. He continued on with his story, "Not even a year ago, I met my good friend, Kaede. He said he had been traveling by himself for some time and he was nearly starved when he came to our town. I had found him and I took him back to my place. It was just me, my mother, and little brother Len. My dad had passed away a few months before. He came to live with us after that. Then, a soldier had come to our village to ask for new recruits to join the Grado army. They needed to add to their numbers and I was excited. I had always dreamed of being a hero and joining the army, but I was afraid of leaving my mother and Len behind. Kaede encouraged me to join and he even joined with me. So, we followed the soldier back to the castle where we would train to be knights..."

He paused and took a deep breath before going on. His hands were shaking, his voice had grown quieter and it was obvious he was trying to hold back tears. "After we had been there for a few months, we reached news that pirates had raided my town. Me and Kaede left immediately after that, even though we were told to stay put. I didn't care. My only concern was getting back home, even though the punishment for disobeying is severe. But by the time we got back...Everything was destroyed. People's bodies were lying in the streets and when I went back to my house I found..."

He said nothing at first and his gaze shifted to the ground. He was trembling, but then he finally managed to shout, "My mother was dead! She died trying to protect Len but he was attacked too. I picked him up, and he was barely alive. My little brother died in my arms!"

He couldn't hold the tears back any longer. "I shouldn't have left home! I should have been there to protect them. That day has left a scar on my heart..."

Everyone bowed their heads upon hearing this somber tale. Neimi had started crying as well. I couldn't take this anymore. I stood up and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Rennac asked.

"I'm leaving." I said. "See you guys."

Cormag ran over to me, grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Hold up!" He said. "You intend on leaving all of us? After everything we went through?"

"I can't risk your safety any longer." I explained. "This journey is mine and mine alone."

"So, everything was for nothing then?!" Joshua shouted. "We left the army with you for nothing?! We recruited Cormag, Selena, Rennac, and Knoll for nothing?! We've nearly died all for nothing?!"

"It's not like that."

"What else is it?!" He demanded. "If you go solo now, then it will all have been for nothing!"

I turned away from all their gazes. "You guys, I don't want you to get hurt because of me. Because I'm-"

"The Bringer of Chaos?" Cormag finished. "That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"

"You know what?" Colm said. "I think you're the worst Bringer of Chaos I've ever met."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"What kind of Bringer of Chaos would be torn apart by this?" He pointed to the destroyed town. "If you were as evil as you think you are, then you wouldn't be risking your life for others, like us!"

"And if you were truly evil and corrupt, then you wouldn't have helped many of us realize the truth." Selena said. "Without you, Cormag, Zel, and I might still be fighting for Grado."

Neimi joined Cormag and I and put her hand on my shoulder. She gave a weak smile and her eyes were still wet from her weeping. "And you wouldn't be trying to stop your destiny."

"And if you were truly evil, you wouldn't have bothered to save any lives." Knoll added. "Had you not stopped to help me in the Grado dungeon, I would be dead by now."

"We're sticking with you till the end!" Zel said as he wiped his tears away. "You can't do this alone."

"And you won't." Rennac added. "I am your body guard after all. We have a contract."

I looked around at them all, this small group of people who were willing to stand beside me despite my dark future. They didn't care. I would never fully understand how they could look over the truth all for the sake of me. Nor would I understand how they could love me for who I was, when I was the one to bring Hell on this world. I felt the tears well up in my eyes once more, but this time, it wasn't for sorrow, but the happiness I felt for having them in my life. I blinked the tears away. My friends had given me a new resolve. And I knew I couldn't keep crying for the lost people of this town or the prophecy any longer. It was time for me to move on.

"Let's go." I said. "Together, let's make our way to Jehanna."

Each one smiled contently and I lead them away from the wreckage that would forever weigh heavily on our souls. That horrid last night for the town of innocents that we couldn't save would forever haunt us for years to come. Now all we could do was carry on, for them and to prevent anyone else from having to experience the same fate they had. Together, we made our way to the desert wastelands of Jehanna.


	17. I'll Be the Light That Guides You

CHAPTER 17: I'LL BE THE LIGHT THAT GUIDES YOU

A few days passed and the forest surroundings we were used to began to change into a vast wasteland of sand. We were able to travel with no real problems, but we kept a quick stride. We knew we had lost a lot of ground from being captured by Grado and resting a full day at a town. But because of everything that happened to us, we became more determined than ever to reach the kingdom of Jehanna and defend its Sacred Stone from Grado.

By mid-afternoon, we reached a small town that rested on the outside of Jehanna's great desert. Joshua had purchased several canteens and told us to fill each of them up with water. We were given three canteens each.

"Do we really need this many?" I asked.

"Jehanna's desert heat is very intense." He explained. "One can get dehydrated if they are out there for too long."

"How long are we going to be traveling for?" Selena asked.

"If we leave now, it will take today and a majority of tomorrow."

So we left immediately and traveled through the desert the entire day. Even though Joshua had warned us about the heat, we hadn't expected it to be as bad as he had said. I began to regret the clothing choice I had made before coming here. The long sleeve shirt made me sweat and the black cape felt like it added on more weight. Everyone else was having similar problems as well. Only Joshua seemed to be fine in the desert, but he grew up there. It was to be expected.

"It's way too hot." I said. My mouth had grown dry and one of my canteens was completely empty. "How could you ever put up with this kind of heat, Joshua?"

The myrmidon shrugged. "I'm used to it. Besides, tonight you'll be wishing for the heat."

"Why's that?"

"The desert's temperature drastically drops at nights."

Colm let out a groan. "Why can't the desert make up its mind?!"

"Stop complaining." Rennac said in an annoyed tone.

"Make me, you old geezer."

Rennac proceeded to bop Colm on the head.

Colm curled his hands into a fist and was about to punch Rennac, but Neimi stood in between them. "Stop it." She said. "There's no reason to fight."

Colm folded his arms and turned away. Then his look changed from anger to surprise as he looked out into the distance. "Hey, guys," He said. "I think I see a lake of some kind!"

"You mean an oasis?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah, one of those things." He squinted his eyes and cried out happily, "It is! It's an oasis! Last one in is a rotten egg!" He then charged for the lake, but I couldn't quiet figure out what he was talking about. There was no water of any kind in the direction he was heading to.

"I don't see and oasis." I said.

"Colm, wait, don't go over there-" Joshua tried to warn him, but it was too late. Colm leaped up and jumped right into a cactus. The thief let out both a startled and a pained cry.

"THIS LAKE HURTS!!" He screamed.

"That's because it's not an oasis. It was a mirage. You were the only one that saw it."

Colm rolled off the cactus and laid in the burning hot sand. "I...hate...the desert!" He growled miserably.

* * *

We had no choice but to camp out that night. We found a small cove that provided little protection and not all of us could fit in it. We really didn't think we were going to run into any bandits or thieves in the desert, so we decided not to take shifts keeping watch. Joshua also said that we would need our energy for the march the next day. And just as Joshua had said, the desert got extremely cold that night.

Cormag was smart and threw in extra fire wood in our traveling supplies for when we reached the desert. We huddled together to share body heat but even with the added warmth of the others and the fire close by, once the sun had gone down, the area had become freezing cold.

We placed a pot over the flames and made a soup out of the dried meats and vegetables that we had purchased from the last town. Once dinner was over with, we talked a little before going to sleep.

Colm had thrown off his shirt and Neimi was trying to pull all the remaining cactus thorns out of him. He was grumbling and complaining to whole time. "How long is it going to take for us to get to kingdom?" He asked in a whiney tone.

"It's not that much further." Joshua said. "If we keep going at the pace we have been, we'll arrive at the kingdom tomorrow late afternoon."

"Thank the gods! I want to get out of this hellish place as soon as-OW!"

"Sorry." Neimi said after pulling out another thorn.

"Do it more gently!" He snapped.

She raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"You're no good at this. Selena should do it."

"I'm trying by best." Her eyes began to tear up.

"Come on. Don't start that." He moaned. He put his hand on her back and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings so stop crying, 'kay?"

There was an awkward silence. Finally Zel said to Colm and Neimi, "You two make such an adorable couple."

The two's faces lit up four shades of red. Rennac, of course, had to throw in his two cents as well. "You know, the way you treat Neimi isn't exactly the best. If I had a cute girl like her, I'd treat her great."

Neimi blushed, although I'm not sure if it was the compliment Rennac had given her or if it was the fact he called her "Colm's girl".

"She's not my girl!" Colm said, his face was now a deep crimson color. Everyone else laughed.

"That's not what it appears to me." Rennac said.

"Shut it!" Colm shot back.

"That's enough." Selena said with growing irritation. "Don't you two dare start this up again. Honestly, would it kill you to get along for more than a day?"

"Maybe." Colm said. Joshua and I chuckled a little but we were the only ones who did.

* * *

It was too cold for me to sleep and it didn't help that I was at the edge of the group and had the less warmth from the others. I tossed and turned a little in the sand but couldn't get comfortable enough to fall back to sleep. I then heard whispering. It was Selena and Cormag. Both were sitting next to each other in the cove and they were talking softly so they wouldn't wake anyone else up. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying.

"Cormag?" Selena said. "I want to talk with you about something."

"What is it?" He asked.

"What are we going to do when we reach Jehanna?"

Cormag was silent for a few minutes, most likely lost in thought.

"We all know we must defend the Sacred Stones, but how can we?" Selena continued.

"Simple, we fight along side Jehanna's soldiers."

"I'm not sure." She said sounding like she was losing hope. "How will we convince the queen that we're on their side?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He replied through a yawn.

"Cormag!" Her whisper grew slightly louder. "You're starting to sound like Darian."

He let out a humph. "I'm tired right now." He said. "Let's discuss this in the morning."

"But-"

"You worry too much."

"How can I not? There's so much uncertainty right now. You realize that if we do get into the castle, when we do battle we will be fighting our fellow country men? Others from Grado."

He exhaled heavily and said, "I know. I dread that day more than anything."

"And what about Darian?" She said. "Weren't we supposed to be going to Darkling Woods to discover the truth as to why she was brought here in the first place?"

"Do we really want her going to Darkling Woods?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Darkling Woods is where the monsters are appearing from. It's also the same place where the Demon King was sealed away at decades ago. What if simply taking her there will cause the end of the world?"

"I never thought of that before." She admitted. "But I'm still confused on how she will cause the world's end. She doesn't have any other worldly abilities."

"But she does." Cormag explained. "She is able to read emotions, remember?"

"I don't see how that could help cause the end of the world."

"There was something else that disturbed me." The wyvern rider continued. "Neimi had told me that when Darian was handed an axe in her first battle, she was swinging it around like a pro. Yet Darian had no recollection of ever using a weapon in her world. Wouldn't wiping someone's memories cause them to forget how to use such skills?"

"You have a point, but are you saying that-"

"That little ability could have something to do with her being the Bringer of Chaos."

Selena said nothing and turned to lay on her back. "I hope she doesn't gain any other strange abilities." She said solemnly.

"What? Do you expect her to turn into some monster and go on a killing spree?" Cormag asked with a smirk.

"With her, it wouldn't surprise me..."

Cormag laid down again and both fell back to sleep, but I couldn't. I stood up and found Knoll sitting up by the fire, staring at the dancing flames. _I have nothing better to do._ I thought to myself. _I might as well start a conversation with him. _I got up and sat next to him.

"Hey Knoll." I said. "You doing ok?"

"Yes. I suppose." He replied. "Why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep." I shivered some more. My teeth were chattering at this point. "Knoll." I said.

"Yes, Darian?"

"What happened to Prince Lyon? Why did he turn out like this? You confirmed that he was possessed by the Demon King. But we really didn't go any further than that."

"Are you sure you want to know?" He asked.

"Yes. Tell me what really happened."

He took a deep breath. I knew this was going to be hard for him. He loved his kingdom very much and Lyon's betrayal to him burned deeply into his heart. But I had to know. "We students of ancient magic, along with the prince himself, were researching certain arcane techniques lost long ago. We were able to reproduce one...phenomenon, but only briefly."

I think he realized I wasn't following him at all. The look of confusion settled that quickly. When Knoll started using fancy words I always felt like my brain was going numb from trying to decipher him.

"I should be more concise." He said. "Prince Lyon and I pierced the veil that clouds our futures."

I was even more lost now. "Meaning...?" I asked.

"We could see the future." He replied. "You see, time is like the water of a river: it flows ever on, never stopping. Certain disturbances can cause ripples that speed swiftly downstream. If you can see the water, you can read the flow, the ripples, the waves."

I think I kind of followed him. "So...When you look into the future...you're looking into a puddle of water. Or...is it that the future is a puddle water..."

He gave me a puzzled look then shook his head. "It's not quiet like that." He replied. "It's sort of like looking in the water but it's not water."

"Oh. Ok." I said. "Keep going."

"Imagine being able to see into the future." He continued. "You would be able to save countless lives. If you saw a terrible storm, you could evacuate everyone from the area and save them all. Prince Lyon explained this to us with much joy in his voice and heart. His power would, at long last, be able to help the citizens of Grado. We continued our work. There were ceremonies, rituals--such horrors..." His voice trailed off and his expression turned grim.

"K-Knoll..."

"And then we saw it. In the near future, Grado would be ravaged by a catastrophe."

"What kind of catastrophe?" I asked. "Like a war?"

"No, it's not the conflict in which we are currently embroiled. This event is still in our future. We saw Grado. We saw the earth crumble. We saw people dying. We saw the shape our future would take."

I couldn't believe it. Knoll's home would be destroyed. "Knoll I--"

"We couldn't believe it either. We tried to disprove what we had seen. But nothing could shake the vision." His voice became ragged and his body trembled. "In this disaster, Grado would be destroyed. Countless would die. Those who died quickly would be spared the slow horror of starvation. This was when the emperor died, by the way. Lyon was shattered by despair. He devoted himself to research, and then came the Dark Stone..."

"What is the Dark Stone?"

"Our destroyed Sacred Stone. Grado's Sacred Stone was the most powerful out of all the stones. That is how it obtained it's name; the Fire Emblem. When the Fire Emblem was destroyed and the Dark Stone created, the Demon King entered Lyon's body and possessed him..." He replied. I glanced at him and saw his expression was worn and a look of complete despair had washed over him.

"Knoll...I can't fathom what you're going through right now, but I know how the sting of sorrow feels." I told him. I gently placed my hand on his arm. "But you've been in this depressed mood for so long. Ever sense we broke you out of your dungeon cell."

He said nothing. So I kept talking. "If you keep this up you're going to wind up dead."

"You are probably right..." He admitted with a heavy sigh. "And yet that might be best."

I was appalled by what he had just said. "What are you talking about?! What do you mean that it might be best?!"

"I have lost my way. Perhaps I should have been executed in the capital." He said solemnly.

"No! Don't talk like that!" I shouted. I grabbed a hold of his arms and shook him. "You're not better off dead! You're one of my dearest friends and I wont stand by and listen to you talk about wishing for death. Do you hate being here with us that much?!"

"N-no!" he said quickly. "It's just...I feel so alone now. I feel as if I'm stumbling through the darkness."

"Then I'll be the light that guides you through the dark." I blurted out. "If you need some then come to me. You aren't alone. You have me and I'll always be there for you. To comfort and heal your broken spirit. Because I--"

What in God's name was coming out of my mouth?! Silence fell over me at the same time my humiliation did. My face turned several shades of red and I turned away from him. An odd feeling welled up within my stomach and my heart beat faster than it ever had before. What was this feeling?

"I...I'm going to sleep now." I said. I couldn't understand what had just happened back there. I quickly curled up back in my spot, shut my eyes, and tried to fall asleep.

"Darian?" Knoll said.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." He replied. "You are one of my dearest friends. I am blessed to have you by my side."

I blushed some more and the odd feeling washed over me again. I tried to ignore it but I couldn't. It made me feel energetic and warm all over. I forgot about the cold and was able to focus on sleep once more. Eventually, I was able to fall into a deep slumber. When morning came, I found Knoll sleeping on the other side of me. I was glad to have him there.


	18. Joshua's Secret

CHAPTER 18: JOSHUA'S SECRET

"Well guys, we made it. We're in Jehanna." I said. We were standing right in front of the enormous pyramid shaped castle. Guards guarded the entrance, so we stayed a good distance away. That way they wouldn't be suspicious of us.

"Great, now what do we do, Darian?" Colm asked.

I thought about it for a moment but I just couldn't come up with anything. We had to protect the sacred stone from Grado but the question was, how were we even going to get close to it? I don't think the guards would just let us into the palace because we want to help protect the stone. I had a feeling that they wouldn't trust strangers.

"I have no idea what we're going to do." I admitted.

"Well isn't this just great." Selena said sarcastically. "You never think things through do you Darian?"

"I don't see you coming up with a plan." I retorted.

She said nothing.

"Why don't we talk to Queen Ismair?" Joshua asked. Everyone stared at him as if he had just imploded.

"That is by far the most absurd thing I have ever heard." Selena exclaimed. "Do you think the queen is that gullible? That she would just trust anyone that says they want to help?"

"I know she's not easily tricked," He said. "But what harm will it do?"

I had to agree."Let's go with Joshua's idea." I said. "Unless anyone else has a better plan?"

No one objected to this and so, the nine of us entered Jehanna's palace. A guard quickly stopped us. "Halt! State your business." He commanded.

"We wish to speak with Queen Ismair." I said in a very professional sounding voice.

"Very funny" He said in a sarcastic tone. "Now, get out of here."

"No, we want to speak with Queen Ismair." I repeated more sternly.

"Commoners are not allowed to speak with the queen when ever they wish."

"We're not commoners." I said. "We're soldiers from Prince Ephraim's army."

My comrades glanced at me but then realized that they needed to play along. "Yes, we're messengers." Cormag added. "We have important news that is for the queen and the queen only."

"Well...you do appear to be soldiers..." The guard admitted. "I must speak with her first." He left for a few moments and we waited patiently. When he returned he said; "She has agreed to meet with you, but several guards will be present when you speak to her."

This could make things a little bit trickier, but at least she's willing to listen to what we had to say. The guard lead us to the throne room. Queen Ismair was sitting on the throne at the back of the room. We walked over to her and bowed before her.

"You are the messengers sent by Prince Ephraim, correct?" She asked us.

"Yup, that's us." I replied.

"Where is your proof?"

I felt a knot in my throat. "Er...Proof?"

"Yes proof." She repeated. "A letter written by the prince encased in the royal seal."

"We don't have a letter." I said nervously. They others eyed me worriedly.

"Than some sort of emblem that proves that you are of that army? I see none of you wear an emblem."

Now I felt my stomach turn. "We don't have an emblem of any kind."

"Then are you messengers of Prince Ephraim or not?" Her voice was filled with growing irritation.

"Yes, we just don't have any of that stuff." I said. "But we need to warn you that Grado is going to invade this kingdom and plans on destroying your sacred stone."

"Why should I believe you?" She asked.

"Because. I heard the soldiers from Grado talking about it. Ceallach's troops are marching here. You must prepare your army for their arrival."

She still didn't look too convinced. "When did you hear this information?"

Then Joshua knelt down on one knee. "Please my queen. You must believe us. We speak nothing but the truth. This may be hard to believe but, Prince Lyon is the cause of all of this. He is possessed by the Demon King. Knoll can explain everything."

And so, Knoll told the same story that he told me. How Lyon, stricken by grief from his father's death, created the Dark Stone in hopes of bringing him back from the dead. How in the process, the Demon King was summoned into his body and now is slowly eating away at the poor prince's soul. How the Demon King is sending the Grado soldiers to destroy the stones so he can roam free once again.

"I know it's a hard tale to swallow," Joshua continued once Knoll was finished speaking. "But it's all true. We've seen him."

The queen was silent. She seemed to be pondering whether to believe us or not. Finally she said, "I believe you."

"You do?!" I said, unable to hide my surprise. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could we stay and help guard the stone?"

"Yes, I suppose it wouldn't hurt." She replied, but the whole time, she seemed to be glancing over at Joshua. But I didn't care, I was too happy that we managed to pull everything off.

"But first, I need you to tell me about yourselves. Especially you, Bringer of Chaos."

The happiness was gone. "You...know I'm the...?"

"Rumor of you has traveled fast." She explained. "But I was just merely assuming that you were the one. They said that she was also traveling with quiet a few commoners, the renowned soldier Cormag, and General Selena."

"Well, I guess we fit the description." I said. "But, do you really trust the Bringer of Chaos to guard your sacred stone?"

"If these people are able to trust you than I suppose I can trust you as well. Now, can I have your names?"

I went down the row of my friends names. "I'm Darian, and this is Colm, Neimi, Zel, Selena, Knoll, Rennac, Cormag, and--"

"Jacob." Joshua finished for me. I stared at him with utmost confusion. "My name is Jacob." He repeated.

"Yeah, he's Jacob...I guess..." I repeated, still a bit bewildered.

Then Ismair motioned for a one of her servants. "My servant will lead you to your rooms."

"We get are own rooms?" Colm asked excitedly.

"Then we will talk about your journey at dinner." She continued.

"We get Dinner?" Colm asked excitedly again.

"Well, yeah Colm." Joshua said in his sort of 'WELL DUH!' voice. "She's not going to starve us."

"Oh...ok." He said simply.

The servant then led us to our rooms. He noted that each of us would get our own separate rooms.

"We get separate rooms?!" Colm shouted with an enormous amount of excitement. "Hot damn, this day just keeps getting better and better!" He obviously started getting some of the odd speech patterns from me...

Everyone dispersed into their own rooms, but before I went into my own room, Rennac pulled me aside and whispered something in my ear. "Don't eat the food tonight."

"Why?" I asked.

"She might poison it."

"Why would she poison it?"

"Don't you know that the royal people will do that to people they don't like."

"I thought it was regular people tried to poison the royal people."

"She probably doesn't believe us. She may even be like everyone else and want you dead. Then she'll take the rest of us down with you."

My god! What if what he said was right? I mean, most people want to kill me so that way the end of the world would be prevented. Everything he said made perfect sense.

"But what are we going to do about it?" I asked.

"Simple, we get someone to test it first." he replied.

"I'll do it."

"I didn't say that you had to."

"No but if I die then that's one last thing the world needs to worry about. If I collapse during dinner tonight then you know the foods poisoned. Then you guys need to escape."

That's what happens when you get me and Rennac to talk. Our imaginations go a little crazy and our paranoia get's the best of us. I didn't even know I was the type to get paranoid until I met Rennac. After that little ordeal, Rennac took to his room. Instead of going to my room, I barged right into Joshua's.

"Ever hear of knocking before entering?" He asked. He was lying down on his bed, doing absolutely nothing.

"I just wanted to know why you decided to go with that alias randomly." I said.

"That's really none of your business." He replied.

"I'm just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat for a reason."

I shrugged. "You've been around me long enough to know I'm curious about everything."

He hopped out of his bed and lightly pushed me out the door. "We are allowed to have some secrets around here." He said and then shut the door.

Something's up with him. I thought. He's never acted that way before...

Dinner time came and the servants informed us of that. The nine of us rushed down to the royal dinning hall. The room was very fancy. A large chandelier hung above the table. Glass windows surrounded the walls with curtains that held different patterns and designs of many colors. And the table that we were going to eat at was enormous. It was a long rectangular shape and could fit over twenty people. We each took a seat. Joining us were the guards and the servants. Then Queen Ismair took her seat at the head of the table. I saw that there was a giant amount of food, every type of dish imaginable. Most of it I didn't recognize but the aroma it gave off made me feel even hungrier than I felt before. Then I remembered what Rennac said and I was hesitant to take any of it. I still loaded my plate just like everyone else. I didn't really get the chance to test the food first. My other comrades, excluding Rennac, stuffed their faces full of food. Nothing happened to them so I just figured that I needed to stop listening to Rennac. He's full of crap anyway.

"Now, why don't you tell us about your adventures?" Queen Ismair said.

I started out my tale from when I woke up in this world, meeting Glen, and joining the Renais army. I talked about how Ephraim exiled me from the army and how Colm, Neimi, Zel and Joshua (Er, Jacob I guess...) stayed with me and traveled with me. Then I told how we met Cormag and Selena and how I convinced them to side with us. I told them how we took a ship to go to Darkling woods but we were betrayed by Caellach before we could get there. Then how we were taken to Grado Keep and escaped with Rennac and Knoll, and told of our journey to Jehanna. The entire time, my comrades added their own little details to make the story more interesting, suspenseful or humorous. As we spoke, the knights and servants listened attentively to the tale, chuckling every now and then to Colm or Zel's little comments. They seemed to be getting into the story.

Once we were done, the Queen said, "That's quite a tale. But what really interests me is how you didn't know that the reason you were brought here was to end the world."

"Darian couldn't end the world if she wanted to." Cormag joked. "She'd just find a way to screw it up."

Everyone laughed. Even me, because it was funny. But not to me...

Then Neimi spoke up, "Queen Ismair, I heard a rumor that you had a son."

"That's correct." She replied.

"Really?" I said. "Where is he?"

"He's gone." She replied.

"What happened to him?" Colm asked.

"He ran away."

"That jerk" Colm snarled.

"No, he had good reason to leave."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"After his father died and left the throne to me, I had a lot of important duties to attend to. I had little time for him. I'm sure he left because of that."

"What was your son's name?" Neimi asked.

Joshua interrupted before she could answer. "We do you have to keep questioning her like this?" He asked. "Can't you tell that this is a hard topic for her?"

"I was just asking..." Neimi said shying away from the conversation.

"What's the deal, Joshu...Jacob?" Zel asked. "She was just asking about the name."

"This topic is too depressing." He went on. "Why not get on a happier one?"

"What is with you?" I demanded. "Ever sense we got into the palace, you've been acting weird."

"I'm not acting weird. Why do you say that? Was it because of what we were talking about before dinner?"

"Well that has a little something to do with it."

"I just think that you expect us to reveal too much about ourselves to you. You're far to nosey."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm just saying. You don't give us any privacy."

"What is your problem?!" I slammed my hands on the table and my voice volume raised. "You have never acted like this before! I don't know what crawled up your ass and died, but you just need to get over it, Joshua!"

Everyone was a little surprised by my sudden out burst. "Darian, that's no way to behave around royalty." Selena scolded.

"I thought his name was Jacob." Neimi said meekly.

"No." I yelled. "His name's not Jacob, its Joshua. I'm not sure what made him want a new name but his name is Joshua!"

"That's my son's name." Queen Ismair said. "His name is Joshua."

Everyone's jaws dropped and we turned to Joshua who was unable to make eye contact with anyone.

Queen Ismair spoke to him, "I'm sorry, but I knew who you were, the moment you walked into the throne room...my son."

He finally looked up at her. "I'm sorry, mother."

My team was just looking at each other, hoping the other could possibly explain this sudden plot twist. Joshua, the gamboling addict mercenary was really the run away prince of Jehanna? I mean, Joshua? A prince?

"So, now you know the truth." he said with a small sigh. He didn't seem too depressed though. "I'm really the heir to the throne of Jehanna."

"That is the main reason I allowed you all to stay here." Ismair said.

"Not because you trusted me?" I asked.

"If my son wasn't with you then I probably would have had you all killed on the spot because you are the Bringer of Chaos."

Rennac slammed his hands against the table. "I told you so, Darian! I'm not just full of crap!"

"But, why were you trying to hide it Joshu-- I mean, your majesty?" I asked.

"That's why." He replied. "I didn't want you to treat me any different then when you thought I was just an ordinary peasant. I didn't want this to affect our friendship." Then he turned to the queen. "I was going to tell you, but in privacy. I wasn't sure if you would have believed me or not, but I wanted you and you alone to know the truth. I didn't want to get my friends in on this."

"That's completely understandable, your majesty." I said.

"Don't call me that." He said sternly. "I'm still just Joshua. I'm still your friend and nothing more than that. There is no need for formalities around me."

I saluted and said in joking sort of way; "Yes sir! We will not call you anything formal from here on out."

He smiled. "Thank you."

"But, now we have to come up with a plan for when Grado gets here." Cormag said.

I knew he was right. "I'll come up with a plan tonight." I said. "Just give me some time..."

After we finished dinner, everyone retreated to their rooms. Except for Joshua, who stayed to talk to his mother, the queen. I still couldn't quite digest the thought of my buddy being the prince. Instead of going back to my room, I knocked on the door to Selena's room. She opened it and seemed surprised to see me.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked.

She nodded and let me in. I sat down at the chair to her desk while she sat on the bed and faced me. "Is something wrong, Darian?" She asked.

"We'll be forced to battle Grado soon." I said plainly. "I over heard you and Cormag talking last night. I know this will be hard for you two, and if you don't want to fight alongside us, you don't have to. I'm not forcing you to. I'm sorry I lead you away from your fellow countrymen but..."

"But what?"

"You're an important part of this team. You and Cormag have kept us all out of trouble. I'd probably be wandering around the continent with no idea what to do."

"I'm staying, Darian." She said. "I know Grado is in the wrong, and I intend on joining the effort in fixing their mistakes."

I nodded. A smile spread across my lips. "Thanks." I said. My expression quickly changed from joy to seriousness. "But can I ask you one last thing?"

"Yes, of course." She replied.

"Do you think I'm leadership material?"

"Well..." She trailed off, thinking of the best answer to give. "At times..."

"So, in other words; No."

"I didn't say that. You have the potential; you just have yet to realize it. You're our leader and you've lead us through many dangerous situations."

"Yes, because of my "leadership" I've gotten us captured, nearly killed, and turned us into thieves. Although two of the nine of us already are thieves."

She sighed. "You still have some growing to do, but I know you'll mature sooner or later. When that time comes, you'll make an excellent leader."

"Thanks?" I said with uncertainty. I didn't know if I should have been grateful for her sugarcoating the words at the beginning or her compliment at the end.

"Some of us are born leaders." She said. "Not all of us realize it and sometimes we learn the hard way. All the hardships you've faced add on to your experience and help you learn from your mistakes. When the final test nears, you will take everything you've learned and become a different person but only you can change what kind of person you become. Will you lead us into pandemonium or salvation?"

I stood up and headed out the door. I bid her good night and went back to my room. Her words floated in my head and echoed continuously. She was right. But the question was; how would I turn out in the end. I prayed that it was for the best. I went back to my room and I tried to think up that plan I promised everyone else, but nothing was coming to me.

"Why won't my brain work?!" I demanded out loud. Then I heard a knock on my door.

"Yeah, who is it?" I asked.

"It's Knoll." The voice replied.

I opened the door for him and he came inside. "Hey, pal." I said.

"You seem stressed." He noted.

"How'd you know?"

"You're not good at hiding this sort of stuff. I can read you like an open book."

I sighed. "You want to help me come up with an idea of some sort?"

He nodded. "Actually, I did have one idea."

"What's that?"

"Why not hide the Sacred Stone?"

The thought was good but we need more than just that. "They would find it eventually. Unless we..."

"Unless we what?"

"Replace the real thing with a decoy..." Just then I realized the insanity coming out of my mouth. And when ever something insane comes out of my mouth then it equalls a good plan. "I need to go into town."

Knoll looked out my room's window. It was night now.

"At this hour?" Knoll asked. "All the shops will be closed. And what's this about a decoy?"

"You'll see." I said excitedly. "Knoll, I couldn't have come up with this absurd plan without you."

"You're welcome...I suppose." He said with much uncertainty in his voice.

"Any ideas as to where we could hide it?" I asked.

"I thought that a secure place in the castle or some one could hold on to it..."

"That's it!" I cried out. "Knoll, your a genius!" I then gave him a big hug.

"Um...Thank you...?" He still seemed really confused.

"I'm going to bed now." I said. Then I pushed him out the door. "You better get some rest too. Tomorrow's gonna be intense."

"Oh...ok..." He said quietly as he retreated to his room.


	19. Enemy Attack

CHAPTER 19: ENEMY ATTACK AND THE REINFORCEMENTS THAT FOLLOWED

I was floating in a world of nothingness. It felt like I was in a void of some sort. It was dark and I couldn't see a thing. I called out for someone, anyone. Just then, the figure of a woman with long golden hair and a pretty blue and white dress appeared before me. This was oddly familiar.

"Its you again." I said to the lady before me. "Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Yes, I'm sorry." She said sincerely. "I need to speak to you about your destiny."

"I already know about it, lady." I retorted. "You summoned me hear to cause the Apocalypse. Why didn't you tell me about that before, huh?"

"First of all, my name is Cathriana." She said, sounding quiet angered. "And I was about to explain everything to you."

"Shut it." I shouted. "I don't want to hear another word from you."

All of a sudden, the woman began to glow and her body began to change. She transformed into an enormous silver dragon. The creature had a snake like body, no wings, and walked on all fours. It must have been over twenty feet tall and sixty feet long, but that's just my educated guess.

"Er...Did I offend you?" I asked nervously. I was a bit intimidated by her transformation.

"Yes." She said.

"I didn't know deities could get offended."

"Just how many deities have you met?"

"You're the first." I admitted.

"We are not as perfect as you humans give us credit for. As a matter of fact, we are far from perfect."

"Ah, I see."

The dragon leaned her head down so we were looking eye-to-eye. "Listen to me, Darian. I don't have very long to talk to you. The first thing I wanted to speak with you about is about your current powers. It is about time for you to class change."

"Hurray, new clothes." I said happily. I remembered when Forde class changed; his armor had changed to become more durable and his horse turned a different color. It still surprises me how everyone in this world acts like its normal...

"And lastly, about your destiny..." She continued on, but then her body began fading away.

"Don't you dare disappear on me now!" I shouted. "I have to know! Why did you summon me here?"

It did little good; I had awoken from the dream. I cursed as I slammed my fist against the bed. "I was so close!" I snarled.

After everyone was up, I had them gather in the chamber that the sacred stone was placed in. The chamber was very small and had no windows so no one from the outside could see the stone. The only object inside the room was a short pillar the stone rested on in the center of the room. My team, the queen, several of the knights, and some other guy who I didn't know had gathered there.

"Who's that?" I asked, pointing out the random guy who I didn't know.

"This is my teacher, Carlyle." Joshua explained. "He has a lot of authority here in the palace."

"Is that so?" I asked.

Carlyle took a bow and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Darian."

"Uh, yeah…" I didn't hear that much but whatever. "Anyway, let's get down to business." I pointed to the Sacred Stone on the pillar. "Can anyone tell me what that is?"

"That's a Sacred Stone, Darian." Selena said, almost surprised by my lack of knowledge.

"No, it's not." I said.

"But it obviously is--"

"This is merely a decoy." I explained. "I got a glass orb from town that looked similar to the Sacred Stone. Same color, only slightly smaller and isn't as shiny but it'll distract Grado until they find out it's a fake." I took the fake from its stand and showed everyone. Then I pulled out the real one from my pocket. "This is the real Sacred Stone. See what I mean?"

"What will we do with the decoy?" Carlyle asked. "Keep it here in the chamber?"

"No." I replied. "I'll give the decoy to one of my team members and the real thing to another."

"Who will get them?" Carlyle asked. All of his questioning was making me feel uneasy.

"That's for the person I give it to know."

"None of us will know?"

"Exactly. But the one to get the decoy won't know who possesses the real thing and vice versa. The one with the Sacred Stone won't know who has the decoy."

"An interesting plan." Cormag noted. "But why all this secrecy? Don't you trust us anymore?"

"Of coarse I do. But I think it'll be safer this way." Then I turned to Queen Ismair. "The Sacred Stone is protected by you. Do you give me permission to use this plan?"

"On one condition." She said. "I am to know who you give the Sacred Stone and the decoy to."

I agreed to these terms and everyone was dismissed from our little meeting. All the soldiers and guards were fully prepared for battle, in case Grado attacked that day. In the mean time, my team went to train for the rest of the day. I had begun sparing with Cormag and Carlyle most of the day. I can see now why Carlyle was Joshua's teacher. The guy was a beast when it came to sword fighting. I learned a lot from sparing with him.

Grado never showed up, so that night, I gave the two stones to two of my comrades. Sorry reader, but I'm going to leave you in the dark for now. You don't get to know who has which one yet either. I know, I'm such a jerk.

Early the next morning, the Jehanna soldiers were preparing themselves for battle. I mobilized my team as well. It surprised me that we managed to beat Caellach's troops to Jehanna. It's just like Joshua always says, "Lady Luck is on our side." We weren't sure if Grado would appear today either, but better safe than sorry.

We stayed in the throne room and talked out tactics with some of the commanders, Carlyle, and the queen. We weren't sure when Grado was going to strike but we figured it would be soon. And we would be ready for them. Just then, one of the soldiers came rushing into the throne room.

"Grado's invading!" He exclaimed. "They have a large army with them that's lead by General Caellach."

"Prepare all the troops!" Ismair commanded. "Seal the castle gates and ready yourselves for when they break in."

"Why don't we just take them head on?" Colm asked.

"They'll waste all their energy on trying to break through the castle gates." Selena explained. "It's so we can take them down with a little more ease."

"Darian." Queen Ismair said. "I want you and your comrades to remain inside the castle. We'll need you when they get inside."

"Understood." I replied. Then I turned to Carlyle and the remaining soldiers. "Two of you need to stay with Queen Ismair at all times, the rest of you will follow me to the Sacred Stone's chamber. Seal the throne room door behind you."

"I'm afraid we can't do that." Carlyle said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He motioned for someone to move forward and before I knew it, me and my comrades were under attack from the Jehanna soldiers in the room. This caught us by surprise but we managed to draw our weapons and counter the attack.

"What is this?!" Ismair demanded. "What have you done, Carlyle?!"

"I'm sorry, my queen." He said. "But it's the only real way to guarantee your safety. If you surrender the Sacred Stone to me, I can give it to General Caellach and your kingdom will be spared. Then you can finally be mine."

"What the hell are you rambling on about?!" Joshua demanded. "What is the meaning of this?! And what do you mean she'll be yours?!"

Queen Ismair looked hurt beyond words. "Carlyle, I don't understand. You helped me rule over this kingdom after my husband died and comforted me when Joshua ran away. How could you betray us now?"

"It's not my fault." He said in a sorrowful tone. "Your beauty has captured my heart. I have fallen in love with you. And soon you shall be mine."

Joshua's eyes lit up with great fury. "You sick man!"

"Darian, cooperate with me. Give me the Sacred Stone." Carlyle ordered.

"Don't you dare give him the stone, Darian." Ismair shouted.

"Give it to me!" Carlyle roared.

Just then, another soldier burst into the room. "The castle gates have been breached. The castle is being invaded! The castle is being inv--" But the soldier was interpreted as an axe slashed across his neck, beheading him instantly. His body fell limp to the ground. Then, Caellach entered the room and walked over the soldier's corpse. More Grado soldiers followed after him.

"So, this is where the rats have holed themselves up in." He said in a sinister tone. "Now, it appears that the stone isn't in its chamber so I'm to assume that one of you has it?" Then he walked over to me. "Could you have it, Bringer of Chaos?"

Just then, Rennac's voice filled the room, "Is this what you're looking for, Caellach?" He held the Sacred Stone in his hand.

"Hand it here boy." Caellach said as he approached Rennac.

"Colm, catch!" Rennac shouted as he threw the stone to Colm. The other thief caught it in his hand and the two ran away.

"Get back here!" Caellach ordered as he chased after them. The two were doing a good job at keeping him occupied. They continuously passed the stone to one another. Both were agile and swift and were always ahead of him.

The rest of us battled against the other Grado soldiers. Then, one of the enemy archers shot a bow at me. I hadn't noticed him aiming at me until it was too late. I saw the arrow get launched, it's target was my chest. Just then, a blast of wind shot out and sent the arrow flying in another direction. I saw the person who saved me was Queen Ismair. She held a sword in her hand but it was a blade I had never seen before. The metal sword appeared to be green.

"That's the Wind Sword." Joshua explained. "It has the ability to launch wind magic attacks."

"I had no idea the queen could fight." I said.

"Well, I suppose she felt the need to learn in case something like this were to happen."

The three of us proceeded with the fight. I saw Knoll getting ganged up on by a bunch of soldiers. I ran over to help him out. He chanted a spell and an enormous blast of dark magic was released. Knoll recoiled backward and the soldiers all fell to the ground. Dead as a door nails. I had never seen him use an attack that powerful. To me, it seemed like an over exaggerated form of the Flux spell, but that was the weakest dark magic attack around. And it took out twelve soldiers!

"Knoll! How did you do that?" I asked.

"I-I'm not sure." He said, pushing himself off the floor.

Carlyle had noticed the blast, everyone did. It managed to halt the battle temporarily. Then Carlyle shouted to Caellach, "Ignore those two, they have the fake stone. This shaman has the real one."

"So he does." The general said. "The Sacred Stone also acts as a magic amplifier when a magic user is in possession of it. But I suppose the Bringer of Chaos wouldn't know that. She's pretty dense when it gets down to it."

He began to cautiously walk over to Knoll and me. I held my Silver Axe out in front of me, ready to battle him, but while his back was turned to them, Colm and Rennac tackled Caellach and began to punching at him.

"Don't underestimate us!" Colm roared.

"Yeah, we make an amazing tag team!" Rennac shouted.

One soldier began shouting something, "They've brought reinforcements! Jehanna has reinforcements!" He was quickly killed when he had a lance run through him by Zel. His message was either ignored or forgotten from the battle.

Carlyle then ran over to me, his sword bared. I charged at him and our two weapons clashed together. I knew my Silver Axe wasn't going to be strong enough, so I drew my Devil Axe and countered his weapon. We slashed and blocked each others blades for quiet some time, but soon, fatigue began to rear it's ugly head and slashing away at him with my big battle axe was wearing me down.

I was open for only a split second but this gave him the opportune moment to slit my stomach open. I dropped my axe and fell to the ground, blood pouring out of my wound. Knoll leaned down beside me, ripped off part of the ends of his cloak and wrapped it around me stomach. "Darian just hold on!" He said.

I could only watch helplessly as Carlyle walked over to me, ready to finish me off. Just then, a bolt of lightning struck down only inches away from him.

"Who...?" Knoll asked.

Just then, a man with curly grayish purple hair and white robes ran over to us. He knelt down beside us and chanted a spell. A white light flashed around me and my wound was healed. I felt my energy return to me, and I stood back up, ready to fight some more.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "I suppose if you're fighting Grado then that makes us allies."

"I suppose so but who are you?" I asked.

I then noticed a swordsman, with spiky green hair, a head band, a scar across his face, rush past us and began slashing away at Carlyle. A swordswoman with long purple hair charged forward, and while Carlyle was distracted, she ran her blade through his chest. Carlyle fell to the ground. Were these the reinforcements the soldier was talking about?

With Carlyle dead, several more soldiers rushed over to replace him. A sudden blast of fire shot through the air and struck some of our foes. A little red haired boy had a fire tome in his hand and he was quickly casting spell after spell. I also noticed a girl with long red hair was dancing to the other soldiers. What was strange was when she was done; they all seemed to be re-energized. I guess her dancing was useful but it was also kind of odd...and nasty all at the same time.

Just then I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Darian? Is that you?" It was Eirika! She slowly walked over to me. Her rapier was lowered and covered in freshly split blood.

"Eirika?! Wha- What are you doing here?!" I asked, surprised to see her.

"I should be asking you the same thing!" She said. "If your here then my brother must be here as well."

I scratched my head. "Well...um...we sort of got separated from Ephraim's army. But now's not the time to talk. We have to survive this battle first."

The little red haired boy ran over to us. He looked like he was the same age as Ross. "Hey, are these guys on our side, Eirika?" He asked her excitedly as he pointed to me and Knoll.

"That's right, Ewan." she replied.

He laughed happily. "It's great to meet you." He said.

"Hey, save the introductions for later." The green haired swordsman shouted at us.

"That's Gerik, leader of a band of mercenaries." Eirika explained. "And the swordswoman is Marisa. The dancer is Tethys and the sage who healed you is Saleh."

Arrows flew through the air and struck down enemy soldiers. The archer who launched them was none other than Prince Innis.

"Prince Innis is here?" I said with surprise.

"That's correct." Saleh said. "And not just him. Gerik's Mercenaries are here as well."

Princess Erika, Prince Innis, and Gerik's Mercenaries. They were indeed the reinforcements we needed. With their help, I had a feeling, we could turn the tide in this battle.

I noticed Caellach had shoved Colm and Rennac off of him and now was charging straight for Knoll. I jumped in front of him and blocked Caellach's axe with my own Silver Axe. I didn't dare test my luck further by using the Devil Axe. "Don't think about!" I snarled at him.

"Why do you have to make this so difficult?" He asked as he pushed me back with his axe. "Do you think you can save this kingdom with just your little band of misfits? Do you really think you can change your destiny?"

"I'm not sure." I said. "But I'll keep fighting to do it." I charged for him but several Grado soldiers stopped me and held me back.

"FLUX!!" Knoll shouted as he launched another intensive blast of dark energy at the soldiers. All of them collapsed while he fell to one knee.

"Knoll," I cried out as I rushed over to him. Caellach lost interest in fighting me and turned to someone else. "Are you alright?" I asked the shaman.

He was wheezing pretty badly. "I'm just a little tired is all. I feel like every time...I use a spell my energy gets drained..."

"Could it be the stone that's doing this to you?"

"I'm not sure. I knew that the stone could amply magic but...I didn't know of the side effects of it."

That's when Queen Ismair came over to us. "Knoll, give me the stone." She said.

"But then the enemy soldiers would be after you." he protested. "You can't fend them all off."

"That's an order," She said sternly.

Knoll reached into his robes and pulled out the Sacred Stone. He handed it to her and the battle resumed. Knoll seemed to not get as drained from using his magic attacks now but he was obviously tired from the previous spells. A few Nosferatu spells fixed this problem, but I stayed close to him to provide him with extra help. More soldiers bombarded us and there seemed to be no end to this swarm. I was getting worn out from the fight and I was certain that I wouldn't be able to continue any longer.

Just then I saw Caellach charge for Ismair. "Queen Ismair, look out!" I shouted to her.

He grabbed her by the arm and said, "Give me the Sacred Stone. I saw the shaman give it to. Hand it over and you won't get hurt."

"Never." She hissed.

I watched as he pulled her out of the throne room. "NO!" I shouted as I chased after them, but more soldiers came to stop me, preventing me from exiting the room. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" I screamed as I hacked away at them. Then Eirika, Gerik, Innis, Joshua, and Marisa came to my aid and helped me kill them off. Once that wave of soldiers had fallen, I noticed that no other enemies remained.

"That takes care of them." Gerik said proudly.

"Where's the queen?" Neimi asked.

"Caellach took her." I said through gritted teeth.

"Everyone, search the castle." Innis ordered. "Don't leave a single corner unchecked." Everyone rushed out of the throne room until only Eirika and I remained. We were just about to leave with them when suddenly, Prince Lyon teleported in front of us...

((Author's Note: For those of you who are confused as to why some of the characters are with Eirika, here's the reason why. I fused Eirika and Ephraim's stories together. Some characters follow one story while some follow the other.))


	20. Rise of the Silver Beast

CHAPTER 20: RISE OF THE SILVER BEAST

I was taken aback by the Grado's prince sudden appearance. "Lyon?!" Eirika asked. "Is that you?"

He looked weak, almost like he was about ready to collapse. "Eirika...And Darian is here too?"

"Lyon? Where have you been?" Eirika asked. "My brother and I have been so worried about you. You're father; he's deranged, isn't he? That's why Grado invaded Renais, right?" She slowly approached him, about to rest her hand on his arm. "Tell me what has happened, Lyon."

"Eirika..." He murmured softly. "I wanted to see you so that I could apologize. The invasion of Renais...I was unable to stop it. I'm sorry, but I still cannot talk to you. Not yet..."

"What are you talking about?" She was about to walk over to him, but I stopped her.

"Careful," I cautioned her, the I turned to him. "I already know the truth, Lyon. You're not the same anymore. You're possessed by the Demon King."

"What?! How can that be?! Lyon, say it's not true."

He turned away from us then said, "Eirika...No matter what happens, I'll always be your friend." Then he teleported away before either of us could say another word.

"Eirika! We found Queen Ismair!" Innis's voice rang through the hallways. He ran into the throne room. "Come quickly, there isn't much time."

"Not much time? What are you talking about?" Eirika asked. "Come, Darian."

We followed Prince Innis through one of the hallways and found the limp body of the queen lying on the floor. Blood oozed out of her chest from where an axe had struck her. The only one who could have done this was Caellach, but he was no where to be found.

I turned to Selena, "Couldn't you have healed her?!"

She shook her head. "Her wounds where too severe. She was already dead by the time I got here. Joshua at least was able to speak with her before she died."

I looked around but didn't see him anywhere. "Where'd he go?" I asked her.

"He left to go retrieve the sacred twin weapons of Jehanna." She replied.

"The what?" I had never heard of this before.

"Each kingdom not only houses a Sacred Stone but two sacred weapons as well, used by the warriors who battled the Demon King centuries ago."

Then I saw Joshua return, holding a blue bladed sword in one hand, and a gold and green book in the other. "These are Jehanna's sacred weapons." He said. "Audhulma, the ice blade, and the ultimate elemental spell, Excalibur." He strapped Audhulma to his belt and held Excalibur before Selena. "I want you to have this tome. I feel that you will be able to wield it better than any I know."

She took the book and held it close to her. "I am honored to be entrusted with such a treasure, Your Majesty."

I had noticed that his expression seemed pained. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"No. I'm far from alright." He said somberly. "But...I will avenge her. When I find Caellach, I will kill him!"

"Do I...smell smoke?" Neimi asked as she sniffed the air. I took a big whiff and indeed smelled smoke.

Then one of the Jehanna soldiers rushed over to us. "Someone has set the palace on fire!" He shouted.

"But how?!" Joshua demanded.

"Caellach!" I said. "I bet he's the one who did this."

"We must evacuate the palace immediately!" The soldier shouted. Then we saw the flames creep through the hallway. Without saying a word, all of us fled through the corridors and out the palace gates. Eirika and I did a head count and found that all of our comrades escaped.

To our horror, we saw a growing number of Grado soldiers waiting just out side for us.

"Well, it was nice knowing you all," Gerik said to his team mates.

"We're not dead yet!" Zel shouted determinedly.

"That's right!" Ewan added. "We can't give up yet."

As much as I liked Zel and Ewan's enthusiasm, I could see the enemies swarm before with ungodly numbers. "Will this nightmare ever end?" I asked myself. "Can things possibly get any worse?"

Then we saw a large blue wyvern fly just above us. The rider let out a horrible laugh. "So, the traitors and the Bringer of Chaos managed to escape, eh?" The voice belonged to Valter. My question was answered; it indeed got worse.

Cormag hoped on the back of Generog and the two chased after him in the air. "Valter you scum!" He shouted. "I'll kill you just like you killed my brother!"

"Do you honestly think that you can take me on? When your brother, General Glen, could not?" He laughed again. The two slashed at each other with their lances while their wyverns spewed streams of fire from their mouths at each other.

I turned to my right and saw another wave of soldiers gathering. Leading them was Caellach. Joshua charged for him before anyone could say a word.

"Rennac, Knoll, Zel, go after him and back him up." I ordered. They followed him and attacked any soldiers that got in their way.

Then several Grado Pegasus knights and Wyvern knights flew over head and charged down at us. Then, a blast of fire and a burst of light energy exploded before the oncoming attackers. Their steeds were scared off and retreated in the opposite direction.

"DARIAN!!" I heard two people shout. I turned around and saw Lute and Artur run over to us. They were the ones that stopped the soldiers. "Is everyone all right?" Artur asked.

I rushed over to them and hugged them both around the necks.

"Where have you been?" Artur asked. "Why didn't you tell us that you guys were leaving?"

"That was extremely rude of you." Lute added.

"I'm sorry guys but...I'll explain everything to you later." I said as I broke away from them. If those two were here then I knew that Ephraim's army was here as well. "First we have to take care of these guys. Neimi, Selena, take down any air forces that you find. You have the better chance of defeating them. Colm, you me and Eirika's team will--"

I was interrupted as Cormag and Genarog came tumbling down out of the sky and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Valter and his wyvern landed right by them.

"Is that all you can do?" Valter taunted.

Cormag roared as he got back on Genarog and the two took to the sky once more. Valter and his wyvern took off as well, but while they did this, Colm grabbed a hold of Valter's wyvern's tail.

"COLM!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I cried out. I could only watch as the thief climbed up the wyverns back. Amazingly, the dragon didn't seem to notice him at all. Colm got behind Valter and grabbed a hold of his hair and yanked it back. Valter let out a yelp and pulled back on the wyvern's reigns. The wyvern made a startled screech and halted. Valter managed to free himself from Colm's grip and threw him off the wyvern. Colm tumbled down the ground below. Then the wyvern sent out a stream of fire from it's mouth, enveloping the thief in the flames. He screamed in pain as he hit the ground below.

"COLM!!" Neimi, Selena and I cried out as we ran over to him. His clothes were ablaze but we managed to pat the fire out. The stench of burning flesh filled the air and stung my nostrils.

Neimi lifted his head up. "COLM!! COLM SPEAK TO ME!!" She wailed. Tears streamed down her face. "PLEASE WAKE UP!! PLEASE!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!"

Selena casted a recovery spell that healed his burns, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. He wasn't waking up. We continued to shake him, but nothing happened. He laid in Neimi's arms, motionless.

"Colm...no..." I muttered. "You can't die. You just can't."

Artur and Lute joined Selena in casting healing spells, but nothing seemed to work. I felt tears run down my cheeks as I continued to take in the sight of my dead friend. I couldn't accept this. "Colm...he couldn't..."

I wiped my tears away, and the sorrow I felt turned into pure rage. I began to walk forward, into the center of the battlefield. I pulled out of my pocket, the crystal clear stone with the cross shape in it, the one I received from Prince Lyon.

"It will give you power." His voice echoed through my mind.

"Power?" I said out loud. "That's what I really need. I need power. Because of my weakness, Colm and Queen Ismair are dead. I can't protect anyone!"

The stone began to glow in my hand.

"I want power! I want the power to save my friends! I want the power to protect those I love! I want the power to change my destiny!"

Then the stone flashed and I felt myself become engulfed in a golden radiant light. I felt a new energy flow through me. Was I...class changing? I remembered the day Forde changed from a Cavalier and into a Paladin. Was that what was happening to me as well?

Then I heard a voice whisper into my mind. "Take my power." That's all it said but I knew who the voice belonged to. "Cathriana..." I said softly.

When the light faded, I was towering over everyone else. I had wings, a long slinder tail, claws and I was completely clad in silver scales. I saw the shocked expressions of the soldiers before me.

One of the soldiers could barely form the words. "The Bringer of Chaos turned into...A dragon?!"

I never really knew what "Class" I was before, but whatever I was I had changed into something similar to what Myrrh was; a Manakete. A dragon.

I took this time to send out a beam of light from my mouth. The beam hit over sixteen of the soldiers, disintegrating them instantly.

I flew up into the air and examined the battlefield. I watched many of the soldiers retreat after my transformation, reducing their numbers greatly. Then I saw the battle with Valter and Cormag. Valter called on more enemy wyvern knights to aide him and the new reinforcements attacked Cormag. Then he managed to sneak away from his fight and spotted the two twins of Renais. Eirkia and Ephraim had just found each other during the battle and stayed close to each other, battling the forces before them. Valter then dived down, his spear held out before him, "This time I'll kill you for sure, Ephraim!!" He shouted.

I flew through the skies and slashed him with my claws just before he could reach them. The strength of my hit sent him flying. He then he crashed against the desert ground.

Cormag finished off the other soldiers and turned his attention to Valter. He swooped down and landed right beside him. He got off of Genarog and walked over to Valter. The Grado General had fallen off his wyvern and seemed too stunned to do anything.

"This is for my brother!" Cormag yelled as he ran his lance through Valter's head. I turned away, it was too gruesome even for me. I saw more soldiers charge at Eirika and Ephraim. I sent out another beam of light and the attack destroyed that wave of enemies immediately. Both twins stared at me with shock.

"Are you two all right?" I asked.

Eirika looked absolutely terrified. "Darian? Is that really you?"

I nodded, then veered my attention over to Joshua's side. There were many enemies on the end of the battlefield, so I decided to assist them. I flew close to the ground to avoid the arrows of Neimi and Innis. Both were shooting at the pegasus knights and the wyvern knights that flew high in the air. I knew better than to get caught up in an archer's line of fire.

A large mass of Grado soldiers had accumulated by Caellach. Artur and Lute had joined in the fray and where crushing their foes with magic attacks. The two had improved greatly since last I saw them. Then I noticed they were wearing different clothes. I assumed that they must have class changed. Joshua was fighting Caellach using his new acquired Audhulma sword, while Knoll, Zel, and Rennac held off any enemies that tried to interfere.

I landed on the ground and slashed away at the soldiers with my claws. I pretty much took over for the others. I crushed, hacked, and maimed all soldiers before me. I managed to rip one guy in half. In this form, I felt untamed and wild. I had the urge to destroy all who stood before me. As much as that tribal sense seemed to help me in this fight, I couldn't help but feel fear towards myself. Was that really me who was causing this massacre or was it the new dragon side of me?

I had vanquished all the foes and the only one left was Caellach. I knew that I could not intervene in this battle. Joshua was fighting to avenge his mother just as Cormag fought Valter to avenge his brother. Joshua blocked off all of Caellach's attacks while Caellach did the same to him. The two locked weapons and pushed with all their might. Just then, Joshua released all his force on his weapon, pulled away, and with his swift movements, ran the sword through Caellach's gut. The general was shocked and could barely form the words, "Curse you." Joshua then pulled the sword out of him and let Caellach bleed to death.

As I gazed back at the battlefield, I saw that our allies and comrades were finishing off the remaining soldiers. I reverted back to my human form and studied my new outfit. I had a red cape that flapped in the desert air, silver shoulder guards with gold edges, new boots that nearly came up to my knees, and dark brown leather gloves with metal plates on the outer hand section and along my fingers.

I didn't think long about my clothes as I watched the last of the enemy soldiers fall one by one. The fight was done. We had triumphed once again, but at the lose of a dear friend...Colm...

I still couldn't believe it. The blue haired thief who was like a brother to me was really gone forever. I breathed heavily at the thought of his death and all the good and bad times we had. I knew this was war, and people die in war, but I never once expected him to die. Not Colm...

"You okay?" Rennac asked as he came over to me.

I shook my head. "Colm's dead." I said, chocking back tears.

Rennac didn't say anything, and even wore a hurt expression upon his face. He turned his head back and I thought I saw him fighting back a smile. "You're friends are calling you." He noted as he pointed behind us.

I heard Selena and Neimi's voices call out my name. I turned to see them waving to me, Natasha was with them as well and beside her was Colm. He too was waving.

"Darian!!" He shouted. "You were amazing out there!!"

I ran as fast as I could through the sand and tackle hugged Colm, knocking him to the ground. I hugged him around the neck, so tightly he could barely breath. Then I let go, siezed him by the shirt collar and started shaking him violently.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" I shouted. Tears were streaming down my face. Tears of joy to see my friend alive. "I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!"

He laughed. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Sorry's not good enough!" I roared. "I thought we had lost you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily. Besides, I already got my lecture from Neimi."

Knoll, Rennac, Zel, and Joshua had joined back with us. Cormag and Genarog landed beside me and the wyvern knight said, "Looks like we escaped the jaws of death once again."

Rennac let out a sigh. "I think we're getting to good at this."

"Or maybe Lady Luck is on our side." Joshua said as he put his arm around Natasha. "How are you doing my love?" He asked her.

"I'm not sure if I should be mad at you or just be glad to see you again." She replied. "Honestly, why did you five leave in the first place?"

"It's a long story..." I said. "But, basically it's..."

"So, there you are!" I heard an irritated sounding voice behind me. It belonged to Ross."Why'd you go and disappear on us, huh?!"

"Er… I was just about to say--"

"I don't want to hear your excuses."

"But you just said--"

"Ignore what I just said! Don't you remember what I'd tell you? The army is like one big family. That means we're siblings, so what kind of big sister are you? You go and leave us like that! That's just plain inexcusable!"

"But I--"

"No, you listen to me! If you were having problems in the army you should have come and seen me about it. We're family now and family sticks together no matter what."

"ROSS WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME?!" I screamed.

He got quiet and let me speak. "Listen, I won't be able to stay for much longer." I said. "I'm going to have to leave again soon."

"But why? Why do you have to go?"

"Because, my destiny is to..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. Not to little Ross.

"What is it, Darian?" He asked.

"Why don't you go ask Ephraim. He'll tell you why."

"Ask Ephraim what?" I heard Eirika's voice say. "Darian? What's wrong?" She asked as she began to walk over to me.

"Eirika, stay away from her!!" Ephraim commanded. "She's dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

By this point, everyone from Eirika and Ephraim's armies had gathered by us to see what was going on. I might as well just say it to everyone. I told myself.

"Because, I'm the one who's going to end the world." I said. "I'm the Bringer of Chaos."

Everyone, except my team and Ephraim looked utterly confused. "Says who?" Asked Eirkia.

"Says the prophecy that foretold my coming and also added that I would end all existence on this planet."

Eirika looked over at Saleh and raised an eyebrow.

"Is this prophecy on a scroll?" Saleh asked.

I nodded. Then he turned to Ephraim. "Could I see this scroll?"

"We don't have the scroll." Ephraim said. "Duessel told me about it."

Duessel stepped forward. "We generals of Grado were shown an old scroll by Emperor Vigarde. It foretold the war of the stones, the monsters appearing, the entity from another world coming into our world, and the Demon King's revival."

"Did you read the rest of it?" He asked.

"There was more?" Duessel seemed taken aback by this. "The scroll was old and the rest of the contents were illegible. But...What else could the prophecy foresee?"

"We've known about that legend for decades in Caer Pelyn." Saleh said. "And Myrrh's kind has held the tale close to their kin. It seems that your prophecy has a bit missing."

"What's missing?" I asked.

"The section that says that the Bringer of Chaos was summoned by the Demon King, and wants that person to destroy the Sacred Stones and bring about his revival." He replied.

Now I was the confused one. I thought Cathriana had summoned me here. How could the Demon King have done it?

"That can't be right." I argued. "In my dreams I was visited by some guardian of this world-"

"Let me finish." He said irritably. "It also says that Cathriana, the one who watches over this world, will summon an entity from the other world as well. But this one will gain her power and fight to save this planet from the Demon King and the Bringer of Chaos."

"So, that means Darian's not..." Neimi started.

"Darian's not the Bringer of Chaos." Eirika said. "She's our Bringer of Salvation."

It took me a few minutes to process this information. Once I finally realized what was said, I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry from having to go on this insane journey or start laughing from the irony of it all.

So I started laughing. I laughed at the fact that I had come to hate myself for nothing. I laughed at how I was dragging my friends around the continent for nothing. I laughed at how everything that had just happened to me was all for nothing. I wasn't going to end the world. No, I was the one who was going to SAVE it?!

"Darian, this really isn't that funny." Cormag said.

"It is for me." I said, my laughter beginning to die down a bit.

My team glanced at each other for while, unsure of what to say. Rennac finally spoke up. "Well... Who could have guessed?"

"Rennac?" We heard an unfamiliar voice say. Although it was unfamiliar to me, hearing it made Rennac tense up.

"Hide me!" He whispered desperately.

"It is you!" A girl riding on a brown horse came over to him. She wore a beautiful white dress and carried a healing staff in her hand. She had light green hair that was held back by blue ribbons. She seemed pleased to see Rennac, but Rennac looked absolutely horrified to see her.

"L'Arachel! What are you doing here?" The rogue demanded.

"Why, that's no way to greet me, Rennac." She said irritably. "You should be delighted to see me again."

"More the opposite, really." Rennac muttered.

"Either way, it's grand to see you. Now you, Dozla, and I can fight for justice once more!"

"Actually, I'm under a new contract now."

She tilted her head, looking a bit confused. "What do you mean?"

"I work for Darian, now." He explained while pointing me out. "Besides, she actually puts in an effort to pay me, even though our group has been struggling for money for some time now. You are a princess and you've never given me a cent."

L'Arachel turned to me and asked, "I wish for you to end your contract with Rennac immediately."

"What?" I was slightly enraged by this. "Why?"

"I had hired him first, you see, and he ran off."

"Obviously, he doesn't want to work for you." I retorted. "Besides, I like having Rennac around. He livens things up a bit occasionally."

"I'm afraid you can't deny my request." She said. "You see, I'm a higher level than you in the social standing. To put it simply, I am a princess and you are merely a commoner. Thus you must abide by my wishes."

Well wasn't this chick just full of herself? "Well, let me tell you something, "princess", I'm not from this world, so thus your social standings do not affect me. Secondly, as Saleh has said, I am the Bringer of Salvation. I think that makes me a higher social standing than even a king, don't you think?"

She let out a sigh. "This just won't do." She said. "How much do you want for him?"

"You're trying to buy him?" Selena asked.

"You can't buy me like that!" Rennac said. "Go on, tell her Darian!"

"How much are we talk'n?" I asked.

The rogues jaw dropped. "Some friend you are!"

Everyone else laughed. In the end, Rennac wound up staying with me, but L'Arachel still dragged him around everywhere, so not much changed for him.

Ephraim then turned to me. "Darian, I owe you an apology. I know it's a bit much to ask, but could you ever forgive me for sending you away for no reason?"

"I'm greatly sorry as well." Duessel added.

I shook my head. "If I hadn't left, I wouldn't have had the intensive crazy adventure that I had. Granted I didn't like a vast majority of it, but I met four very dear friends because of it."

"Will you rejoin us?" Ephraim asked.

I nodded. "It would be an honor, sir!"


	21. One Last Vision

CHAPTER 21: ONE LAST VISION

Everyone was reunited again and we couldn't help but celebrate that night. After traveling a full day through the desert and eventually making our way back to the forest regions we were used to, we settled down for the night. Being together with everyone felt comforting. And watching all the other soldiers get drunk from celebrating the victory in the desert and was very entertaining.

After we had eaten our dinner, Ross approached me with his hatchet in his hands and an eager look on his face. "Wanna go a round, Darian?" He asked. "Ever since you left, I haven't had any one to beat up on."

I smiled and nodded. "Just like old times." I said with a faint chuckle. I pulled out my silver axe, ready to get thrashed once more by the twelve-year-old Journeymen.

And I got my butt kicked. Just like old times. After my thrashing, I returned to my little camp site where Ephraim was waiting for me. "Darian, may I have a word with you?" He asked.

Now, the last time he said that, I was exiled from the army because he believed I was some monster of destruction, and sent away to the far reaches of the continent. I couldn't help but cringe at what the Renais prince wanted to see me about.

He seemed to notice my fear, although I knew it was obvious to see. "It's nothing bad," He assured me. "I just want to give you something."

I relaxed a bit and followed him to his tent. When we were inside, he took out a black axe from a wooden box with other weapons in them. He handed it me and said, "This is the weapon called Garm. It is one of Grado's Sacred Twin weapons. I want you to have it."

The weapon was beautiful, I had to admit. I took it from him and held it in my hands. I knew just by looking at it that the Garm was the ultimate axe ever created. I strapped it to my back, feeling proud that I was chosen to wield it.

But the most important event that happened to me that night, was the last vision Cathriana sent me thought another dream. It started out just like all the other visions she had given me before.

I was in the world of nothingness and she appeared before me in her dragon form. Her shimmering scales were the only source of light in this place of shadows.

"I see you have successfully inherited my power." She said.

I nodded. "I guess I did."

"Now, I have many things to tell you and little time to tell it. Listen closely, Warrior of Light."

"Will you answer me one question first of all?" I asked. "What exactly are you, Cathriana?"

"I am the guardian of this world and the one who bestowed the Sacred Stones upon this land. Now, allow me to finish giving you the information you require, for I cannot speak to you for very much longer."

I knew it was best not to continuously interrupt an enormous dragon, so I got quiet and listened to what she had to tell me.

"The first thing you need to know is that if you survive the trials ahead, you will return to your world after your task here is complete."

"What?!" I shouted. "Why?"

"Is there a problem? Surely you wish to return to your world?"

I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to go back home or not. I had come to love this world as if it were my own. Besides that, would I be happier in my old life than the one I had here? I was surrounded by friends who I loved and who loved me back. What more could I possibly ask for?

"I'm sorry, Darian," She said. "But you have no choice. You must return to your old home. Now, onto the next matter at hand."

How could I possibly concentrate now? I was pretty upset about this little bit of news. Still, I forced myself to pay attention to her.

"You will not want to rely heavily on your dragon form." She continued on. "It brings you great power, yes. But controlling that power will be difficult. If you wish to shift into a dragon, you must use the stone that made you class change. It will act as your own Dragonstone.

"Your battle with the Demon King and the Bringer of Chaos will not be an easy one. You will need to be prepared. You must learn to use your abilities to give you strength."

"You mean my dragon form?" I asked.

"Not quiet. I bestowed upon you several abilities to help you survive in this world, such as implanting the skill to use a weapon without any proper training."

"So that way I could fight off my enemies." I said. "I wondered how I could use a weapon correctly in this world..."

Her enormous dragon head gave a nod. "But the ability that you will need to use is your emotion reader."

"How am I supposed to use that to strengthen me?"

"You will need more than your current power to go up against your future enemies. Your friends will give you the strength you need. Through the Sacred Stones, they will loan you the power you lack."

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling even more confused now. "What does my friends, the Sacred Stones, and my emotion reader have anything to do with each other?"

"You will understand in time."

I curled my hands into a fist. "Why can't you just give me a straight answer?"

"It is a solution that you must find out on your own."

Why wasn't she telling me anything? Did all gods act like this? "Okay, will you at least tell me this; why did you choose me of all people to come to this world?"

"There are few reasons I selected you, but it matters not right now."

"It matters to me. Why did destiny pick me for this task?"

"There is no such thing as destiny." She said. "Now, please quiet yourself. I still have much to tell you."

"If you won't answer how my powers can be enhanced through the Sacred Stones, then at least tell me why you picked me. I didn't choose to be sent here. At least I don't think I did."

She turned away from me. "You were not 'destined' to be the Warrior of Light...originally."

"I was supposed to be something else?"

She didn't speak.

"Answer me!" I shouted. "Stop talking in riddles and give me a straight answer!" With that last demand, I awoke from my vision. It almost seemed like she was trying to hide something from me... But what it was, I was unsure.


	22. Return to Renais

CHAPTER 22: THE RETURN TO RENAIS

A few days later, we arrived at Renais. We stood before the once proud castle that Ephraim and Eirika called home. Bricks had fallen from their lodgings, windows all along were shattered, and doors were ripped off the hinges. It looked awful.

"What has happened to our home? Ephraim demanded. "What has happened to Castle Renais? How did it come to be so ruined? So desolate?"

"We have reports that the castle is now being run by the traitor Orson." Seth explained. "He's done nothing to govern over Renais."

"I've always had a bad feeling about that guy." I said. "Something about him just didn't seem right."

Seth gave a nod. "His wife passed away some six months back. The loss may have been too much for his mind to bear. His love and devotion for his wife were well known among the knights."

Wow! No wonder that guy seemed a little screwed up. I've never been in love, so I wouldn't know what he would have gone through. But I remembered how I felt when I thought Colm had died in the last battle. Losing a spouse much be one hundred times worse.

I walked over Eirika and Ephraim. They both looked upon their old dwelling with somber expressions. I could feel the sorrow they felt for what has become of it. I pushed aside the sorrow I felt after reading their emotions and my heart became filled with determination. I swore to myself a vow that I wouldn't fail them in reclaiming their home.

"Are you two ready?" Seth asked the twins.

They both nodded and so, we entered the castle. Myrrh ran ahead with us and held in her hand, her Dragonstone. "I'm going to fight along side you!" She said determinedly to us.

I couldn't quiet picture little Myrrh having much fighting ability. I mean, look at her, she so little and puny. What could she possibly do?

We pushed open the doors and were immediately greeted by traitor soldiers of Renais. They charged at us and everyone quickly drew their weapons and fought back. I didn't, instead, I took out the stone the Dragonstone. I focused all my energy into the stone and felt my body begin to mutate. Soon, I towered over everyone in the castle in my dragon form.

_That's right, fear me_! I thought to myself with a dark chuckle. I let out an ear piercing roar and lifted my head upward.

SMACK!!

My head collided with the ceiling of the castle. My roar stopped short and I realized, I was too big to move around properly in the castle.

"Darian, revert back!" Saleh ordered. "You are far too large to maneuver about the corridors, and you haven't learned to properly control your new powers. Fight in your human form for this battle."

I sighed and reverted back to my human state. I pulled out Garm and began fighting against the enemies before me. I glanced around and noticed Myrrh take out her dragonstone. The stone glowed and wings sprouted from her back. Well, more the wings she was trying to hide most of the time. She didn't want people to know she was a Manakete, so she always hid them.

The golden wings wrapped around her and suddenly, her shape began to grow larger. When the wings pulled away, an enormous golden dragon stood in place of Myrrh. It stood on all four legs, making it able to move about the castle. (My dragon form is taller than Myrrh's because I stand on my hind legs.) My jaw dropped as I watched Myrrh spew flames from her mouth, engulfing the soldiers in its blazes. Everyone else couldn't help but stare at her with great surprise as well. After all, it's little Myrrh we're talking about. No one expected her to be able to fight like she was doing in this battle.

Now that Myrrh was doing all the work, I had little to do since most of our foes were starting to retreat from seeing her transformation. I glanced around and saw an enemy bishop make his way over to Kyle. He chanted something in another language and then strange lights appeared all around Kyle. I recognized this attack immediately. It was a sleep spell. I rushed over to the bishop and sliced him in half, but it was too late. Kyle had fallen asleep on the back of his horse.

Forde saw what happened and rushed over to him. "This isn't good." He sighed. "Looks like he's going to be out for a while."

"I'll wake him up." I said. I pulled the green cavalier off his horse but I didn't interpret how heavy he would be and I accidently dropped him. His head landed on the ground with a loud THUD. Still, he snored loudly, which eliminated my fear that I might have knocked him unconscious.

"Come on!" I shouted, slapping him a few times. "Rise and shine already!" Even after my hits, he didn't stir. The guy sleeps like a log.

"We can't watching over him and fight at the same time." I said.

Forde nodded. "True, but we can't just leave him here."

We stared at his sleeping body for a few minutes until I came up with a semi terrible plan. "You got a rope?" I asked Forde.

Forde reached into his saddle bag and took out a rope and handed it to me. "Great." I said as I tied Kyle's ankles with one end of the rope. I tied the other end to the saddle of Kyle's horse. I climbed onto the horse and flicked the reigns. The horse took a few steps forward and to my relief, the rope was long enough to keep Kyle out of the way of the horse's hooves. It dragged Kyle along by the rope.

"This should work." I said. "We'll take him with us as we fight."

Forde gave me an odd glance but at the same time, he seemed quiet amused. It was obvious he didn't completely approve of my plan but at the same time, he found it quiet humorous. "Who's going to ride his horse in the mean time?" Forde asked.

"I will, of course." I replied.

Forde raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know how to ride a horse?"

"Nope." I admitted. "But how hard can it be?"

After fifteen minutes of riding, I fell off the horse thirty-six times. I was a sore wreck. "Not as easy as you thought, huh?" Forde asked with a smirk. I groaned in response. We made our way along the hallway and found Eirika, Ephraim, and Knoll who were battling against several enemy soldiers. Forde rushed into the fray with his sword and took the heads off of a few of the traitors.

I simply had the horse trot over to them; I was too banged up to care if I killed any more enemies at that moment.

"Are you alright?" Knoll asked as me when he saw me sitting quietly on the horse.

"Oh, yeah, totally." I replied.

Ephraim noticed Kyle being tugged along by the rope and couldn't help but ask, "Why is the horse dragging Kyle around on the ground?"

"He's asleep." I replied. "How else were we going to watch over him and fight too?"

"And exactly how much fighting were you doing, Darian?" Ephraim asked.

"Er..." I thought a moment and realized I barely fought at all that day. Ephraim and Eirika were giving me one of those 'That's what I thought' looks.

"It's not my fault I haven't done much fighting!" I attempted to defend myself. "Myrrh pretty much took over for all of us!"

The enemy numbers had thinned drastically in a short time as soldiers thought that by teaming up against Myrrh they would be able to slay the dragon. They were wrong. So very wrong. Myrrh just had the opportunity to take down even more soldiers at once.

Now that most of the pawns were finished off, we all knew were we had to go now. The throne room. We headed to the throne room and found Orson sitting on the king's seat.

"Orson, you will move from that place!" Ephraim roared. "That is my father's seat. It is his throne. You've no right to sit there!"

"It matters not." Orson replied with little fear of us. "Renais is lost. It's too late for it. Even if you reclaim this place, the entire world will be wiped out soon enough."

"What do you mean by that?" Forde argued.

Orson began laughing a very deranged laugh. "The Bringer of Chaos will arise and revive the Demon King. Once that has happened, it matters not what you do."

"Do you not care about what happens to you?!" Eirika demanded. "If you already know of this, then why are you still assisting Grado?"

"I am happy now. You can not ruin our happiness."

I shook my head in disgust. "He's mad." I said. "There's nothing we can do for him." I climbed down off of Kyle's horse and charged for Orson. The paladin drew his sword and blocked Garm with his own silver blade. He kicked me away from him and veered his attacks at Ephraim.

Eprhaim pulled out his lance and countered Orson's assault. Forde rode forward and slashed at Orson, but the paladin dodged the attack. That was about the time Myrrh, in her dragon form, crept into the corridor.

"No..." Orson said in disbelief as he stared down the golden dragon. Myrrh reared her head back and released a stream of fire at Orson. He screamed in pain, but soon, his cries died down as he was burned to death. With the battle over, Myrrh reverted back to her human state.

I walked over to her and pat her on the head. "You did good, Myrrh." I praised, amazed by her ruthlessness towards her opponents.

Just then, we heard Kyle let out a battle cry as he sat up. "Traitorous scum!" he shouted. "I, Kyle the Great Knight, will not allow you to get away with your crimes and..." He then realized there were no enemies around. Then he noticed his ankles were tied by a rope that was connected to the saddle of his horse.

"Anyone care to explain this?" He asked as he pointed to the rope.

"Ask Darian." Everyone said as they glanced at me. Kyle gave me a look that indicated he was none to pleased by this. I wasn't going to have fun explaining this one...

Seth and his stallion came trotting into the throne room. "Prince Ephraim, Princess Eirika. The castle has been secured and..." He looked a bit shaken.

"What is it Seth?" Eirika asked.

"Follow me to the room Orson holed himself in..." Seth replied as he lead us to the king's sleeping corridors and threw open the doors. The first thing we noticed was the stench of decaying flesh. I nearly gagged at the repulsive odor...and then I saw what was giving off that smell.

Sitting on the bed, was the half decayed corpse of what appeared to be a woman. She turned to us, and said in a shrill and non human voice, "Darling...Darling...Darling...."

"My gods!" Eprhaim gasped. "You're Orson's..."

"Orson's deceased wife..." Kyle finished for him.

Eirika's face turned pale and Forde left the room, unable to take what he was seeing. I felt as if I was going to vomit from the hideous sight.

"This same magic was used to control Emperor Vigarde." Ephraim explained. "She's already dead, and her corpse was used to..." He was unable to bring himself to finish.

"Who? Who could do such a thing?" Eirika asked.

"A freak." I spat. "Someone like the Demon King."

"Prince Lyon is a Necromancer." Knoll explained. "He is able to perform spells such as this."

Ephraim took his lance and ran it through the corpse's chest. The body crumbled to the ground and turned to dust. Then we exited the throne room.

Knoll turned to me and said, "Darian, your face is so pale."

"I'm just disgusted by what I have just witnessed." I said. "I never want to see another...monstrosity like that ever again."

Knoll said nothing, but followed me through the hallway to find our group of friends. I wanted nothing more than to forget everything that had just happened.


	23. Aloft

CHAPTER 23: Aloft

I was unable to sleep that night. The image of Orsin's decaying wife popped into my head and disturbed me greatly. It was so repulsive! What kind of sicko could create something so gruesome?

Everyone in our little army had been given their own room in the Renais castle and my room was on the second level with a window view of the kingdom. I hopped out of my bed and looked out at the darkened world before me.

Although everyone talked about Renais as being a "dead" country, with its ruler killed and its kingdom thrown into chaos, nature in this land was far from dead. The songs of crickets, howling of the wolves, the rustling in the trees, and the cries of the owls indicated that Renais was far from dead.

As I was gazing into the distance, a blast of dark energy caught my eye. I looked down and saw Knoll practicing his magic. "Why are you up this late?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep." He replied. "And you?"

"Same reason." I leaped off my balcony and my legs landed against the ground with a thud. I stumbled a bit from the shock in my legs, but I quickly composed myself once more. Knoll got a good chuckle out of it.

"I was sure you would be asleep by now." Knoll said. "Today's battle was fierce."

I nodded. "I was bummed that I couldn't shape shift into my dragon form, but there wouldn't have been enough room for me in the castle."

"I envy you." Knoll said. "Your ability to turn into a dragon must be astounding. You become more powerful than before and you can even fly."

"Have you ever flown on the back of a pegasus or a wyvern?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Never."

"Would you like to know what it's like to fly?" I asked.

He gave me a puzzled look. I shifted to my dragon form and lowered my head down to the ground. "Get on." I said.

He looked even more confused now and a little nervous. He cautiously climbed onto my back. I stood up, leaped into the air and flew up. As I flew at high speeds, I felt Knoll grasp a hold of my neck tightly. I slowed down a bit and asked. "You okay back there?"

"This is just new to me." He replied. He sounded like he was going to get sick.

"I'm not going to let you fall." I assured him. "Just relax. And if you need to puke, do it over the side of my neck, got it?"

His grip loosened a little. He glanced around at the world below. "This is amazing!" He exclaimed. "You can see the whole kingdom from this high."

As the flight went on and we passed over much of Renais, Knoll began to loosen up more and was really enjoying himself. I made a few small dives which scared him at first, but soon he got used to them and would laugh instead of scream. He was happy, which made me happy as well. After an hour or so had passed, I turned around and flew back to the castle. I landed and let Knoll off. He slid off my scaly neck and looked up at me with awe.

"Darian, thank you." He said. "That was the most fun I've had in a long while."

"No prob." I replied.

I leaned my head down to him. We were looking eye to eye. He held his hand out, hesitated at first, but then put it on my forehead.

"You know," He said. "When you first transformed into a dragon, I was little wary of you. I wasn't sure if you would still be the same Darian when in that form or not." His hand then moved over to my cheek. His touch was gentle, and soothing. I then began to transform back to my human form. His hands remained on my cheeks.

"I'm still the same though, no matter what form I take." I said.

"Yes, I know. You will always be you. That's what I like most about you." He said as his face gradually drew closer to mine. I blushed as I felt my heart beat faster. Closer... Closer... Our lips about to make contact--

"Darian!!" I heard Colm cry out. "Where the heck is Marth? I want to listen to him."

I glanced back over at the castle and saw Colm peering out my window. "What the heck are you two doing down there?" He asked. Knoll still had his hands to my face and I suddenly felt very embarrassed. "Er...Nothing!" I said franticly, pulling away from Knoll's grasp. "I'll be up in a sec."

I then turned to Knoll. "Well, um, good night." I said, still feeling a bit humiliated by that.

"Yes, good night, Darian." He said as he watched me head back to the castle. As I climbed the stair case to my room, I couldn't help but wonder what was coming over me? What were the strange sensations that I felt whenever I was around Knoll? What was happening to me?

I opened the door to my room and found Colm jumping up and down on my bed. "Hey! Stop that!!" I cried out.

"No, this is fun." He said, refusing to stop.

"You're going to break my bed!" I shouted. "I don't want to have to explain why the bed's destroyed because you were jumping on it."

"I'm not going to destroy it." He said. "I was jumping on my mine and the only thing that happened was the bed snapped in half."

As his feet landed on the mattress, I grabbed him by the ankles and yanked him off. Then I dragged him across the room and threw him out the door, slamming it shut behind me. I then heard a knock.

"What about Marth?" He asked.

"I don't want you breaking him either." I shouted, refusing to talk to him, even as he tried pestering me throughout the night.

((Author's Note: I suck at love stories, that's just all there is to it. I know their relationship is rushed, I'm still working on it, but I'm not much of the lovey dovey kind. Hopefully, this chapter turned out ok though.))


	24. Clashing Forces

CHAPTER 24: CLASHING FORCES

We began the march early the next morning. I walked along side Colm and Neimi who chatted happily with me. Colm still tried to bother me about listening to Marth but I refused to loan him to the thief. I wasn't the only one mad at him either. Eirika and Ephraim were none to pleased with him snapping a bed in half from his "playing around".

"They're rich, they can afford another bed." He said. Just then we heard footsteps rush over to us and Rennac appeared in between me and Colm.

"Hey pal." I said. "Haven't seen you in a while. L'Arachel keeping you busy?"

He shot me a glare. "What part of 'I don't work for you' doesn't she understand?"

"The 'I don't work for you' part." I replied.

"Why me?" He said. "What have I done to deserve this?"

"Maybe she likes you." I said. His cheeks lit up a faint pinkish color and Colm and Neimi began giggling. "It would explain why she forces you to hang around her so much." I continued on.

"I...I..." He was trying to protest but he was too embarrassed to form words properly.

"Wait, what's this?" I said teasingly. "Could it be that the grand rogue Rennac likes the princess back?"

"As if!" He cried out.

"I bet you do. Rennac's in love L'Arachel! Rennac's in love L'Arachel!" I chanted.

Now his expression changed to sheer anger. "I do not!" He argued. "Besides, I have dirt on you too."

"Like what?" I asked.

"DARIAN LIKES KNOLL!!" He screamed for half the army to hear.

I put my hand to his mouth to silence him. "What are you doing?!" I demanded.

"Come now," The rogue snickered. "It's obvious you have feelings for him. When ever he's brought up in conversation, your face turns three shades of red."

"I do not!" I shouted while blushing.

"That's not what it looked like last night." Colm said. "When I saw you two, his hands were holding your face and you were only inches from a kiss."

"My, oh my!" Rennac said, acting like he was in disbelief. "What a juicy piece of information."

I cursed under my breath. "It's not like that." I attempted to argue.

"What was it then, the heat of the moment?" Rennac went on.

I turned away. Neimi walked in front of me. "If you like someone, Darian, it's ok to admit it."

"I DON'T LIKE HIM!!" I wailed.

The others weren't convinced at all. The two thieves were laughing and Neimi wore a look of concern. I turned away from them and left to hang out with someone else. I found Selena, Cormag, and Zel talking together so I joined in with them. They're nice to me...sometimes...

* * *

We made our way to the Narube River in our journey to Rausten to gain the second to last Sacred Stone. When we arrived we saw a squadron of Frelian knights battling against a group of Grado soldiers. The Frelian knights were definitely not winning.

"That's the Frelian army I sent ahead of us." Innis said in disbelief as he watched his soldiers get beaten to a pulp. "Quickly, we must aide them."

We were about to charge forward and counter them, but L'Arachel held out her arm to stop us. "Hold! Something evil is afoot." She said, and she couldn't have been more right. Just then, Prince Lyon teleported right in front of us.

Eirika rushed over to him. She looked him over worriedly and said, "Where have you been all this time, Lyon?" Ephraim grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Lyon simply stood there, looking dumbfounded.

"Lyon, we met recently in Grado Keep, right?" Ephraim asked sternly. "Do you remember what you told me then? You told me this was all your doing, that you had started this war."

Lyon looked hurt by his words. "Ephraim, why are you so angry? We haven't seen each other in so long...What's happened?"

"Don't play dumb!" I yelled. "Remember when I met you for the first time?" I pulled out my Dragonstone, the same stone that he had bestowed upon me. "You gave this to me, and then I saw your true 'Inner Demon' that day."

"What are you talking about?" Ephraim demanded.

I had realized then that I had not told anyone other than those who were with me at Grado Keep the truth about Lyon. "The prince of Grado is possessed by the Demon King." I replied. "That monster is devouring Lyon's soul as we speak."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Eirika cried out. "There must be something wrong with you, Darian! I know Lyon; he is one of my dearest friends. He told me that, no matter what happened, we would always be friends. You were there when he said it." She then turned to Lyon. "Isn't that right?"

He nodded. "Of course it is. I-" But he began coughing badly and writhing in pain. "Stay...Stay back!" He warned weakly.

Eirika tired to walk closer to him but he backed away and said hoarsely, "Stay...back...Eirika... Get away...from me...quickly...If you don't...I surely will....destroy you...." He let out a horrible scream. Then his expression turned from pained to a malicious one.

A laugh emitted from the Lyon, but the voice was not his own. "It's been a while since I've seen you two last, hasn't it?" the devilish voice hissed.

"Demon King!" I roared. "So, you've decided to rear you're ugly head here, huh?"

"You are quiet the persistent pest, aren't you Warrior of Light? If only I had killed you when I had the chance."

"You knew I was the Warrior of Light the whole time, didn't you?" I asked. "But you told all the Grado military that I was the Bringer of Chaos in order to get rid of me. Too bad your plan failed. Now everyone knows the truth."

"A shame it is indeed." The Demon King said with little care of his failure. "But it matters not, for the true Bringer of Chaos will arise soon enough." The Demon King then teleported away and we saw him reappear in front of the fort at the edge of the Narube River.

And so the battle began. Monsters and Grado soldiers worked together to fight against us. I headed for the bridge that spanned across the river and began hacking away at the monsters before me. Mauthe Doogs guarded the bridge, preventing anyone from passing. Cormag, Selena, and Zel came to assist me in the fight to get rid of these beasts.

Selena released powerful Lighting spells, eradicating a vast majority of the monsters, while Cormag and Genarog dived down and took out a small portion of the creatures. Zel and I stood side by side and killed any that got past Cormag and Selena. In no time at all, the bridge was clear and monster free, but before we could celebrate, a small group of Grado soldiers swarmed to the bridge and charged for us.

At the back of the group was a sage girl who appeared to be around my age. She had short purple hair, a light blue cloak, and an Elfire tome in hand. She was barking out orders to her comrades. Selena pulled out her Excalibur spell book and read the ancient language, calling upon a powerful wind current that sent most of the soldiers flying off the bridge.

Cormag and Genarog swooped down, and the wyvern knight ran his lance through the remaining soldiers with lighting fast speed. All that was left was the lone sage girl.

With Garm in hand, I charged for her. She casted an Elfire Spell to stop me. There was no possible way to dodge the attack, unless I dove into the water, but that wasn't going to be an option. I can't swim. I ran head long into the flames of the spell. I was met with intensive heat that sent bursts of pain through my body from the burns. Still I kept up my stride and ran out of the blazes. The mage girl wore an expression of shock as I ran right up to and swung Garm at her...

"DARIAN!!" Zel cried out. "DON'T DO IT!! PLEASE STOP!!"

....But it was too late. I swung Garm upward and my axe impaled her rip cage, creating a fatal gash in her side. She was paralyzed from the assault and as I pulled Garm out of her, she collapsed to the ground. Zel ran past me, knelt down beside her and lifted her head up.

"Echo!" He wailed. "Echo! Say something!"

"...Zel..." She murmured softly and weakly. "...You're...really here..."

"Yeah, I'm here, Echo." He replied. Then he turned to Selena. "Dame Selena, please heal her!"

Selena seemed shocked by his request. "I can't, Zel. She's one of the enemies...Unless she wishes to side with us, then I could heal her."

"You hear that?" Zel asked. "We can save you, Echo! Just switch sides. Join us."

She shook her head. "I'm a warrior of Grado and I will die as one."

"Please..." Zel begged, a tear streamed down his cheek.

"...Don't cry...Zel..." She said.

He whipped it away and sniffled. "It's...hard not to..."

"You're...a man...aren't you...?"

He nodded.

"Men...don't cry..." She said.

"They do for their friends."

We heard footsteps approach us. When we turned to see who it was, we saw that they belonged to the silver haired warrior I had battled a while back. When he saw Echo lying on the ground his eyes widened.

"ECHO!!" He screamed as he scooped her up in his arms. "Echo! What happened?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!"

She placed her hand on his cheek and said weakly, "Kaede...I'm glad...I was able to... see you..."

"Echo! I can save you! Just hang on! Please..." Kaede cried out.

"...I'm...so glad...I could be held...by you...one...last...time..." Her eyes began to close slowly. Then her hand fell limp. Kaede then began crying. "ECHO!!" He roared.

Zel stood up and crept over to him. "Kaede...I'm...I'm so sorry..."

Kaede didn't even notice him as he turned and walked away, carrying Echo in his arms. Soon, he was completely out of sight.

"Echo...and Kaede..." I began to say.

"Echo and Kaede were in love, and Echo was good friend of mine." Zel said.

"Zel...I..."

"Don't waste your breath." Zel said, his voice ragged.

"...I'm so sorry..."

"JUST SHUT UP!!" He shouted. "I told you not to attack! I begged you to stop but no...You just kill anyone who stands before you!"

"Zel...I didn't mean to..."

"You're no Warrior of Light! You're better suited as the Bringer of Chaos, you murderer!" Zel then ran ahead of us.

I turned to Selena and Cormag, hoping one of them could say something to help. "Don't worry about it, Darian." Cormag said. "This is war. There can never be a happy ending. Friends die in war. He's just going to have to accept this."

Selena's horse trotted across the bridge and we followed her. "With every life we take, we feel an incredible amount of guilt for it." She said with great sorrow. "One day, my guilt will consume me."

_Then why is it I don't feel guilt?_ I thought to myself. _Why is it I can kill and feel no remorse? Am I really a monster like Zel now thinks I am? What's wrong with me?_

The battle resumed, as if nothing had happened at that moment...

* * *

When Ephraim and Eirika defeated the Prince Lyon at the fort of the Narube River, the Grado prince teleported to the center of the area. He said to us; "Now, I know your strength. It is time to leave. I sacrifice this flesh and return to my body of old. This is not the end. The world will drown again in darkness."

Then he turned to me and said, "You have buried your own grave, Warrior of Light. The final threshold has broken and it's only a matter of time before the Bringer of Chaos will arise and destroy all in sight.


	25. Why You Should Never Sell a Devil Axe

**CHAPTER 25: WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER SELL A DEVIL AXE TO AN INNOCENT SHOP KEEPER**

((Wow, what a long title! Oh well, it happens.))

We stopped at one last town before we made our way into the volcanic regions of the Neleras mountains. We would take this time to restock on items and weapons. The town was peaceful and held little excitement, and after the last battle we had, I welcomed the tranquility.

Zel refused to speak to me for obvious reasons. I did just kill one of his best friends so it was understandable for why he was infuriated with me. I just hoped he would be able to forgive me…

As we went into the town, most of the other soldiers left their weapons with the convoy. We had great doubt that the Grado army would strike us so soon after a battle, especially when we completely wiped out their forces that day. I left all my weapons with the convoy as well; all except for the Devil Axe, which I intended on getting rid of. When me and my friends had been sent away from the army, I had acquired the Devil Axe and discovered the hard way that it was cursed. I kept it around for security, because it was the most powerful weapon I had, but since I had been given Garm, I have little need for the once great weapon. That, and the thing scares the crap out of me.

With the Devil Axe strapped to my back, I made my way to the nearest weapon shop. I passed by some of my buddies who stopped to wave to me, but the only one who was willing to follow me to the shop was Knoll. But that guy follows me every where, so I really don't think he counts anymore.

"Sell the Devil Axe?" Knoll said in astonishment. "Aren't you afraid you'll get cursed for it?"

"Its the cursed one, not me." I shot back.

"What if selling it makes it upset and it gives you one hundred years of bad luck as punishment?"

"First of all, that's only when you break a mirror. Second, it's an axe. The dumb thing doesn't have feelings."

"No, but it can cause you internal damage. Let's see an everyday weapon do that."

I was happy for his concern, but seriously, he needs to stop being so paranoid. We found the weapon shop, an old, beat up stone building that looked to be in pretty bad shape. Without putting too much thought into it, the two of us entered the building. I quickly noticed Prince Ephraim was in there as well, apparently looking at some different lances. He turned to see me and Knoll walk in and he gave us a friendly wave.

We waved back and went up to the shop keeper. He was this old guy who might have been a soldier in his younger days, but he was sure not doing any soldiering these days. He was _**old**_, with a capital 'O-L-D'

I quickly got over my rudeness towards the elderly as I placed the Devil Axe on the counter. "I want to sell this." I said.

He picked it up in has hands and examined the weapon. Ephraim seemed interested as well and joined us.

"I didn't know you were planning to sell that." Ephraim noted.

"Yeah well, I don't really need it anymore." I said, covering up my obvious fear of the weapon.

The store keeper turned the axe about in his hands. "This is quiet a beautiful piece of work." He said. "I've never seen an axe like this before. Where did you get it?"

I couldn't explain it, but it looked like the guys pupils dilated. "On one of my insane journeys." I replied, trying not to make eye contact with the guy. "So, will you take it?"

"Yes I think I will." He said, his tone changing drastically to a sinister one. "I'll take this axe…and I'll take your lives!!" He cried out insanely as he leaped towards us with the Devil Axe still in hand.

"Run!!" Ephraim shouted as he shoved me and Knoll out of the shop. The shop keeper was right behind us.

"What's with that guy?" I asked loudly as we ran through the town while being chased by the deranged shop keeper.

"I don't know." Ephraim replied. "He was fine just a few moments ago."

"Why does something tell me that it was the Devil Axe?" Knoll said as he barely managed to keep up with Ephraim and me.

"It does seem plausible." Ephraim agreed. "The thing is cursed, right?"

Knoll then shot me a scolding look. "What did I tell you about selling that axe?"

"Just shut up and keep running." I shouted.

It must have been an interesting sight to see. Three young warriors being chased by some old guy with a battle axe. To make matters worse, the three of us were unarmed so running was our only option.

Just then I saw Myrrh up ahead of us and a grand idea came to me. Myrrh could change into a dragon and beat that guy up easily. I ran over to her, lifted her up, and held her in front of us as if she was some sort of divine shield.

"Alright, Myrrh." I said. "Change into a dragon and save us!"

Nothing happened, and the guy had caught up to us. He raised the Devil Axe into the air and was ready to bring it down on poor Myrrh. Luckily, I pulled her out of the way just in time, and me, Ephraim, and Knoll continued our fleeing attempts once more.

I was still holding Myrrh in my hands. "Why didn't you transform?!" I demanded. She looked like she was about to cry, which is understandable. She nearly got chopped in half. If I nearly got chopped in half, I would probably cry to. Oh, wait. I have nearly gotten chopped in half. Never mind.

"I don't have my Dragonstone with me." She said quietly and through terrified sobs.

"What do you mean you don't have your Dragonstone?"

"I left it with the convoy."

I sighed. "Myrrh," I said sternly. "I didn't recruit Selena to get your Dragonstone back just so you wouldn't carry it with you at all times!"

"I'm sorry…?" She said, unsure of what I had just told her. I then proceeded to tuck her under my arm and carry her like a foot ball player carries a foot ball.

"Don't yell at Myrrh." Ephraim said to me. "You didn't bring your Dragonstone with you either."

"Yes I did." I replied.

The other three just stared at me with their jaws dropped. "You did?!" They screamed simultaneously.

"Yeah, I carry it with me everywhere I go." I explained. "In case something bad happens."

"So why didn't you use it before?" Ephraim asked.

"I didn't even think to use it until you said something just then." I admitted.

Ephraim rolled his eyes as I handed Myrrh to him. Knoll was giving me one of those looks that simply said, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I turned to face the guy before me. I pulled out my Dragonstone and prepared to transform. Sadly, the guy caught up with me right then and knocked me to the ground. Then he raised the Devil Axe above his head, ready to bring it down on me. I was completely paralyzed.

Just when it seemed like the end for me, a horse galloped through the streets and towards us. The horse got up behind the shop keeper and reared back on to its hind legs, letting out a cry.

The startled shop keeper fell backwards and dropped the Devil Axe as he crashed against the ground. I managed to kick the axe away from him before he could reach for it, but to my relief, he made no such move. He sat back up, looked around, and said curiously, "How did I get here?" He got back up and headed back to the weapon store. I let out a deep sigh, and Knoll and Ephraim helped me stand back up.

"Are you all unharmed?" The person on the horse asked. Why, it was none other than Seth. You know; the silver knight guy that just sort of stopped appearing in my story randomly. Yeah, it happens. A LOT.

"I think so." Ephraim said. "Thank you, Seth."

Knoll and I circled the Devil Axe and gazed at the weapon in pure shock. "Don't say it." I said to the shaman.

"Say what?" Knoll asked, looking bewildered.

"You know what."

"No, I don't"

"You want to say, 'I told you so'. I didn't listen to your warnings about selling the axe and we nearly got killed because of it."

"Oh, right…"

I then hesitantly picked up the weapon, waiting for it to make me into burst into flames suddenly. Luckily nothing of that sort happened. I then made my way back to the convoy.

"Darian." Knoll called to me.

"Yeah, what?"

"I did tell you so."

"Oh, shut up." I shouted back.


	26. Forbidden Love

**CHAPTER 26: FORBIDDEN LOVE**

"Another day, another victory." Ross said with a big grin after winning yet again, another sparing session.

"Don't rub it in." I snarled. I still don't get it. I can turn into a dragon and set armies ablaze, but I can't beat up a twelve-year-old!

Ross yawned. "I'm getting kinda sleepy. Well, see you tomorrow, Darian." We waved to each other and parted ways. I was just about to head back to my campsite when I thought I heard someone crying. I followed the sound to a small river side. There, Eirika was sitting alone by the water, just staring into space.

"Eirika? What's the matter?" I asked as I sat down beside her. She looked up at me, looking somber and as if she was about to cry.

"It's nothing." She said, disheartened.

"Doesn't sound like nothing." I replied. "What's up? Maybe I can help."

"Have you ever been in love?"

I scratched the back of my head. "Er…I um…Do I have to answer this?"

"No, you don't have to." She replied. "It's just that...I was talking to Seth and he was told me that I was being to close to him. He's right. I'm a queen of Renais and I must not allow myself to favor one person over everything else...It's just that I...I..."

"You what?" I asked gently.

"I...Love him..."

That didn't come as a surprise to me. Those two spent a lot of time together. I expected they'd developed feelings for each other. "So...Did you tell him how you felt?" I asked.

"Yes...And he said he felt the same...but..."

"But what?"

"He said that as the queen of Renais, I shouldn't favor one subject over all the citizens. That would be going against my duty as queen."

"He has to choose to follow his duty as a knight or defy his oaths to be with you. To love you."

I stood up and had a new motive. "I'm going to help you out." I said.

"There's nothing you can do. I am a queen. I am not to love my knights in that way."

"Love isn't something that follows rules. Love knows no boundries. It doesn't matter if your a queen, king, knight, merchant, theif, or pesent. Love is bound by no law." I began to walk away.

"Don't do anything rash." She said.

"I won't for once."

"Thank you."

Now the fun part. Talking this out with Seth. I found a small campsite where Seth, Kyle, Forde and Franz all gathered. I approached them and said, "General Seth? Could I have a word with you...alone?"

Forde gave Franz a puzzled look. And Kyle watched me suspiciously, as if I was a criminal or something. Seth's expression turned a tad bit more serious as he nodded to me. The two of us headed deep into the forest where we could talk and not be disturbed.

"What's this about, Darian?" He asked.

"I'll tell you what this is about!" I shouted. "This is about what you said to Princess Eirika, that's what! You broke her heart, you jerk!"

His eyes widened at my sudden out burst. "Excuse me?" he said in a sort of irritated tone.

"Your a jerk!! How could you treat Eirika like that?!" I demanded

"Your way out of line, Darian." Seth said. I could tell he was majorly ticked. "You have no right to tell me what I should or shouldn't do."

I knew I needed to calm down or there would be no way I could help Eirika. "Sorry about that," I said as I attempted to cool my temper. "It's just, I saw Eirika crying by the river because of what you said."

"Darian, this whole thing is none of your business." He said sternly. "Keep to your own affairs."

"So, I'm supposed to stand by and watch my friends suffer?" I asked.

"She's not going to suffer long. She'll fall in love with someone else." He said it as though he didn't care.

"I know for a fact that you can't just fall in and out of love with just a snap of your finger." I said. Love doesn't quiet work that way."

"How would you know?" He asked.

"Maybe because that's just not how things work. Hell, at least you two could be together if you wanted to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I flinched as I thought about my own feelings. "At least you two are from the same world. At least you have the chance of being able to be together. At least you guys won't have to part ways when all this whole thing is over with."

Wow, what was coming out of my mouth again? I surprised myself there for a moment. I kept trying to push back my how I felt all this time.

"Seth, I'm sorry. I guess I exploded at you because I'm envious."

"Envious of what?"

"Everything I had just said." I said softly. "I do know what it's like to be in love. But I know full well that I can't be with him. It hurts so much." Never once had I admitted that I was in love. I felt my cheeks turn warm at the thought of the guy I secretly cared about.

"Darian, Eirika and I cannot be together." He said, his anger seemed to die down a bit. "I am her knight and she is my queen."

"Who's going to stop you?" I demanded. "I know that Ephraim wouldn't object to you two if you were to ask for her hand in marriage. He wants his sister to be happy."

"Darian, the citizens of Renais don't want to follow a ruler who favors one of her subjects over another."

"But your her knight, Seth. You've protected her through all this. The citizens wouldn't find fault in someone if they developed feelings towards their protector. Besides, it makes one hell of a romantic story if you ask me."

Seth stared at me as if he was trying to comprehend everything I just said. Then he started to laugh. "You think we would make a great romantic story?" He asked.

He laughed a little more and scratched the back of his head. "Your an odd one, you know that?"

I ignored his little comment. "I guess I just don't want you guys to be in the same boat as me. If you really love her, you'll go talk to her and apologize for being an insensitive jerk."

"What if I am to die in battle?" He asked. "I don't want her to be so over taken with sorrow to where she can't fight on."

"You? Die?" I asked in a shocked tone. "Your Seth, the silver knight! Not dying is what you do best! Besides, if you did, she would be over taken with sorrow anyways because her best friend died."

"I don't know..."

"If anything, do what everyone else does. Say, 'Give me your answer when this is all over.' I can't count how many times I've heard that one. Besides, if it makes you feel better, Some of the other royal guys are hooking up with commoners."

"Like who?"

"Let's see...Take my buddy Joshua. He's got the hots for Natasha. He's a prince and she's a nun. Is that even legal?"

"But Joshua had lived as a peasant for so long, it makes sense that he would fall in love with someone other that royalty."

"Ok, how about L'Arachel? It's pretty obvious she likes Rennac."

"I highly doubt that."

Oh, you don't know those two the way I do. I thought to myself. Why else would she drag the poor guy around one side of the continent and back? "Fine then, Innes and Vanessa. I happened to witness them getting fresh with each other just yesterday."

"Alright, I see your point. You're really persistent, aren't you?"

"You bet I am! Now, go talk to Eirika."

"Looks like I don't have much choice." He said as he began to walk to the river. but then he stopped and turned to me. "Darian, if you don't mind me asking, who is it that you love?"

I wasn't really expecting that question. I began to search the area to make sure that no one (*cough* my friends *cough*) were listening in.

"What are you doing?" Seth asked.

"Making sure there are no eavesdroppers." I replied. The coast seemed clear. I turned to him and said nervously; "T-the person I love is..." I knew I must have been blushing pretty bad. Well, I never once spoke of it and I would usually try to deny my feelings. Admitting this was pretty hard on my part.

"Go on, Darian. I won't tell anyone."

"Promise?"

"Your secret is safe with me."

"Okay," I said, feeling my heart beat faster than ever. "The person I love is...Knoll. He's always been there for me. He always knows when I'm sad and what to do to make me feel better. He knows me better than anyone else... And besides, it's cute how he always follows me around like a lost puppy."

Seth smiled kindly at me. "Do you feel better now that you let someone know?"

I nodded. It was odd. Telling Seth seemed to have taken some weight off my shoulders. I felt light as a feather. He waved to me as he walked away.

"Go get her, big guy!" I shouted to him. I also turned to leave but as I began to walk away, I thought I heard the sound of a branch breaking. I ignored it but just then, I heard a loud crash behind me.

"Are you guys ok?" I heard someone say. Fear stir inside me as I recognized the voice. None other than my buddy, Neimi.

I turned around to see what all the commotion was. A branch from a tree had snapped off and two people were lying on the ground in a heap. I looked in the tree and saw Neimi, Colm, and Rennac just staring at me with shock.

"W-What are you doing?!" I demanded.

"Well..um..There's a really good explanation for all this Darian." Colm said. "I just can't think of one right now..."

"I do not like L'Arachel!" Rennac roared.

Joshua, one of the people who fell from the tree, stood up and bowed apologetically to me. "I'm sorry Darian. I hope you can forgive us for listening in on your conversations like that."

My horror only grew when I saw the second person who fell out of the tree when the branch snapped; Knoll.

"Knoll..." I said fearfully. "You didn't hear any of that...Did you?"

He had this look of sheer amazement on his face. "I did." He simply said. "Was what you said true? Do you really feel that way about me?"

How could this be happening? This can't be happening! My mind shouted. I had sworn to never let him know how I felt because I would have to go back to my world.

I started banging my head against a tree. What was I going to do? I can't have feelings for anyone in this world. I knew once all this was over with, I would have to go back to my world and leave him behind. That was too much to bear. Neimi came over and pulled me away from the tree. "You're going to give yourself a concussion." She warned.

"Darian, do you really feel that way about me?" Knoll asked again.

"N-no!" I blurted out. "I don't! I was lying just to get Seth to talk to Eirika. That's all!"

Knoll bit his lip and lowered his head, looking absolutely defeated. "I...I see..." He said faintly as he walked away.

Neimi ran over to me and slapped me. "I can't believe you just did that!" She shouted. "How could you be so cruel?!"

I was shocked. Never had I ever imagined little Neimi doing something like that. I couldn't think of a thing to say in my defense.

She was crying out of anger. "He cares so much about you, and you had to go and shoot him down like that?! You're awful, Darian!"

"I'm sorry." I said. "But...I don't really like him."

"That was low, man." Colm said. "You could have been a bit nicer about it." Nice? Coming from **him** of all people? Now I knew I was in trouble, when Colm was lecturing me as well.

"Surely you noticed Knoll liked you?" Joshua asked. "You could have at least said someone else."

"You shouldn't have been eavesdropping in the first place." I yelled. My fists were clenched so hard that my fingernails began to draw blood from my palms. "I can't force myself to like some one when I don't. If I had known you all were listening in, I wouldn't have said that."

They were all giving me such harsh glares that I felt my heart fall into my stomach. Then a few chuckles could be heard from someone in this little group. We turned to see Rennac giggling a little. Then he erupted in laughter. He was practically rolling on the ground, holding his sides. We were all surprised to see him cracking up about something. I mean, this was a pretty serious conversation. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"You!" He said, wiping a tear away. "Gods, you are the worst liar I have ever seen." He then veered his gaze to the other three. "And this trio over here are just as down right hilarious for thinking you were telling the truth."

"She was lying...about lying?" Neimi asked.

"Of coarse she was!" Rennac said. "Her love towards Knoll is as plain as day. Clear as a crystal. Heck, anyone could see right through that little act of hers. She's just too prideful to admit that little Miss Independent has fallen in love."

"It...was originally because I didn't understand my feelings towards him." I grunted.

"So, you do love him!" The trio shouted together.

I nodded. There was no point in trying to keep it a secret anymore. But now I would have to confront my friends about what Cathriana told me. "I never said this before, but..." I swallowed hard. "When this war is over... If I survive the trials before us, I will have to return to my world. That means I'll have to leave you all behind and never see any of you ever again. Now, tell me, should I really tell him the truth when I will just have to leave him in the end?"

"You'll...have to go?" Colm asked.

"I don't want you to go!" Neimi wailed, pulling me into a tight hug.

I sort of regretted telling them, but the truth would come out eventually. The sooner the better, right?

"Listen, Darian." Joshua said. "You need to tell Knoll the truth. It's killing him inside. He now thinks you don't love him. Go apologize to him and explain everything."

I tried to argue, but him and Rennac turned me around and began pushing me in the direction Knoll had gone. "Now go!" They said as they shoved me. How could I argue against that?


	27. Love Has An Odd Effect

**CHAPTER 27: LOVE HAS AN ODD EFFECT ON THE HEART AND MIND, DOESN'T IT?**

I searched for Knoll, but I couldn't find him any where in camp. I asked around, but no one else knew where he was either. Where had he gone? I took my search to the forests and called out for him. God, did I feel awful about what I had done. How could I have been so cruel to him?

I continued to look, and eventually, I found him sitting by the lake Eirika was at. I guess there's something about lakes that make people go there when they're feeling all emo inside. I sat down beside him, but he didn't even seem to notice me. He looked terrible.

"Hey, Knoll, can I talk to you?" I asked. He made a sort of shrug. He refused to look me in the eyes as he said in such a hurt tone, "Yes...?"

"About what happened back there--"

"There's nothing more to talk about." He said, sounding as if he had lost his best friend. "I was a fool for thinking you would ever..."

"If you being in love makes you a fool than that makes me an even bigger one."

He finally turned to me in and looked me in the eyes. "What?"

"Listen, I...I never admitted it before because I was really embarrassed about it and I didn't really didn't understand what I was feeling, but I've cared about you for a long time. I mean, you were always there for me. You've looked out for me in so many battles and you've tried to cheer me up when times were rough." I scooted closer to him. "I...I owe you so much and look how I repay you. By lying to you about how I really feel."

"Darian...Does this mean...that you-?"

I nodded. "I love you." I said softly. He wrapped his arms around me and embraced me tightly.

"Knoll, there was a reason I lied to you." I tried to explain, but his grip on me was making it hard to breathe. A few smacks on his back got him to realize he was practically chocking me. "One day, I will leave this world and go back to my true home. I was afraid to tell you the truth because I didn't want to go through the pain of saying good-bye. I'm sorry."

"It would not have mattered." He said as he loosened his arms. "No matter what, I would grieve for you leaving in the end, whether you returned my love or not. I understand why you lied, and I never said anything before because I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same towards me."

"Really?"

"Yes. I thought you would rather want to be with some big muscular guy."

"I don't date people who are more muscular than me."

He laughed. "You would if you were in love with them."

"But I'm not." I said.

"I swore to myself that I would never let any harm come to you." Knoll continued on as he ran his fingers through my hair. "And I intend on keeping it that way. I know I may not be very physically strong, but my magic is greater than any sword or spear. You're my dearest friend. You saved my life. How can I not help but have feelings for you?"

He lifted my head up towards him and he kissed me. I realized we were progressing very quickly. I pushed him back and said, "Listen, I know you want to start a relationship, but I don't think I can handle saying good-bye when the time comes."

"Then I'll just go with you to your world." He said determinedly.

"It's not that simple." I argued. "My world is much different than this one."

"Do you not want me to go with you?" He asked.

"No, that's not it. It's just..."

"I'm not scared." He said. "As long as I have you with me, I have nothing to fear."

"Knoll...I don't know what to say." I had never heard such heart felt words spoken directly towards me in all my life. I buried my head into his chest and smiled. _He's such a sweet guy_!

"Besides," He said. "You're the scariest person I've ever met. If I can brave you then nothing will scare me."

I pulled away from him, wanting to start banging my head against a tree again. Yeah, you know all that _"oh, he's such a sweet guy"_ crap I just thought? I take it back. I take it ALL back.

He chuckled a little, and asked, "Shall we head back to camp?"

"Why not?" I said, fighting my urge to tell him he needed to work on the proper way to act in romantic situations. Then again, I know I am not one to talk. And so, the two of us walked back to the camp together. We found the others waiting patiently for us.

I sat down next to Natasha and Knoll sat beside me.

"So, are you two officially a couple now?" Colm asked.

"I suppose we are." I said. "But I'm still really worried about what's going to happen later."

"Hey, when you two get married can I be your best man?" He asked.

"Colm, I don't think you get what I'm saying." I said. Besides, wasn't it a bit early to talk about marriage?

"Sure I do." He replied. "All girls get nervous before their big wedding day."

I slapped my forehead. Did this guy just forget everything I told him? "No, that's not it."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"What's going to happen when the war's over."

"You mean getting a house and deciding on where to settle down at? I could understand that."

"That's not what I'm getting at Colm." I really wanted to choke him. "Think about it, pal."

He thought about it for a moment. Then he cried out with, "Oh, I get it! Your worried about the kids."

"Kids?!" Knoll and I exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah. I mean, I couldn't see either of you guys being the parental kind."

"Us?" I asked. "What about you? You'd be a horrible father."

"No I wouldn't. I'd be a great dad."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'd teach my kids lot's of neat stuff. Like how to read, do math, and how to steal and get away with it."

"My point exactly."

Everyone laughed. Even him, although I don't know why. My laughter died down before the others and I couldn't help but think about the future. _What if Knoll does come with me to my world? How would he survive? _I did really want him to come back with me, but...

_Aw, heck, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it._


	28. Lute's Hobby

CHAPTER 28: LUTE'S HOBBY

The next morning I had a lot of mixed feelings. I felt better now that I had finally confessed my love to Knoll, but at the same time I felt uncertainty. Would Knoll really be able to go back to my world with me? Was it even possible? I just didn't know. I honestly didn't want to think about it. I looked around my little campsite and saw everyone sleeping soundly. Then I noticed Lute and Artur were missing.

_I wonder where they went to_. I thought to myself. _Might as well look for them. I've got nothing better to do_. So I went searching for them. As I went looking though the woods, I happened to spot Lute. She seemed to be hiding behind some bushes.

"What's up Lute?" I asked.

"SHHH!" She then pulled me down behind the plants as well.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"I'm engaged in my hobby." She whispered back.

"Hiding behind plants? That doesn't sound like much fun."

"Not hiding." She said. "More like...Spying."

"Spying?" I peeked out behind the bushes to see Artur... standing in the middle of the lake...in the nude.

"What the-?! Does he know your watching him bathe?"I demanded

"If he knew then it wouldn't be spying now would it? I do wish you would start using your brain for once."

I ignored her little comment. "What kind of hobby is this?"

"My monk watching hobby." She replied.

I just sat and forced my mouth closed. I knew she said something about "monk watching" before but I had no idea who it involved. All I could say was, "Your screwed up, you know that Lute?"

"That's quiet rude." She said.

"No, it's the truth." I walked away, hoping to just forget about what I had just witnessed.

((Author's Note: Rejoice, for this is the last of the "joke chapters", so if you didn't find this one amusing, fear not, for that's the last of the humorous ones. The story will soon become more serious, but hopefully, it will still maintain some of its funny portions.))


	29. The Bringer of Chaos

**CHAPTER 29: THE BRINGER OF CHAOS**

We traveled to the lava like wastelands that stood in our path to Rautsen. As we made our way through the volcanic mountains, I found a ledge that dropped off into a pool of magma. Ephraim, Knoll, Myrrh, and I gathered around the edge. I took the Devil Axe from the convoy and chucked it into the lava. "Good riddance, Devil Axe." I said as I watched it sink into the lava.

"Never again shall we be chased by the innocent shop keepers you attempt to corrupt." Ephraim added.

With that little bit of business taken care of, we continued on our way. As we traversed through the mountains, we noticed purplish eggs that stood at about three feet tall. These eggs were lined up everywhere along the path.

"Wonder what kind of chicken will hatch from those." I said.

"Probably some demonic ones." Artur replied.

"Those are Gorgon eggs." Lute explained. "When they reach a certain temperature, they hatch."

Joshua and Colm investigated them. Colm poked at one a few times. Then there was a faint breaking sound that emitted from it, and small crack formed on the egg's smooth surface.

"What did you do?!" I demanded.

"I didn't mean to!" Colm cried out. A few more cracking noises came from the egg and we watched in horror as it began hatching.

The other eggs around it began hatching as well. "Er...Looks like it's time to get to work?" Joshua asked as the grotesque creatures from the eggs surrounded us. They stood at seven feet tall, had the upper body of a woman but the torso of a snake. It had snakes for heads and deep golden yellow eyes.

"To arms!" Ephraim commanded. "Destroy them all!"

We drew forth our weapons and charged for the monsters. I took the head off of one of them then I turned to my friends to see how they were fairing as well. To my horror, I watched as one of the Gorgons let out a wretched burst of gray smoke from its mouth that surrounded Forde. He and his horse cried out in shock as they began to turn to stone. I ran over to the Gorgon who was doing this and sliced it in half but it didn't stop the petrifaction process one bit. Forde had turned to stone.

Vanessa, Kyle, and Gilliam the Tank had seen what had happened and rushed to the caviler's aid. I helped defend him from the oncoming Gorgons. I shifted to my dragon form and attacked any creatures that stood in my way,. We managed to stop the monsters from petrifying any one else. Their numbers were beginning to shorten and the monsters were forced to go on the defensive.

I looked around to see if I could help any one else. I then noticed Eirika was staring at something in the distance. I realized what that something was; Prince Lyon. He was standing at the edge of the cliff staring at the volcanic wasteland.

"Lyon!" Eirika cried out as she took off running towards the edge of the canyon. Ephraim and I chased after her. Everyone else was too distracted with the battle against the gorgons and other monsters to even notice us leave. We found ourselves near the edge of the canyon. Beyond that was a sea of molten lava. Lyon was by the edge, staring off into the distance.

"Lyon!" Eirika said gently as she approached him. Ephraim put his arm up and stopped her.

"Careful." He warned. "He's not the same any more."

Eirika looked angered at what he said. "How can you say that?"

"He's possessed by the Demon King now." I joined in.

"He's still our friend. He's in their some where."

Lyon wore the same pained expression that he had when we saw him before. "Eirika. Ephraim...And Darian too." He said weakly. "Please. Help me." He let out a horrible cough.

"How? How can we help?" Eirika asked.

"The Sacred Stone." he replied. "Give me the sacred stone. It's the only thing that can destroy the demon king inside me. Please, hurry!"

"Will...will it really help you?" She asked.

"It's the only thing that can repel the Demon King." Lyon said. "Please. Eirika, Ephraim, help me."

Eirika turned to Ephraim. "Brother, give him the stone." she begged.

"Don't give it to him!" I shouted. "It's only a trick. The Demon King is using your friend as a disguise."

Prince Lyon shot me an angry glare. "My dear Darian, it seems your not the bumbling idiot I came to think you were." Said the Demon King's horrible voice. "I suppose I have underestimated you. I couldn't have expected less from the Cathriana's Chosen One."

I watched him cautiously. I drew my axe and moved closer to him. "I was brought here to destroy you. I'm going to get it over with right now." I then charged for him.

"Darian!! NO!!" Eirika cried out, but before my weapon could collide with him, he teleported behind me at the last second.

"Yes, it's true that you were summoned to end me." He said. "But I shall not be your opponent today. You and I shall do battle at another time."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He laughed. "Today, you will fight your true enemy. Don't you recall the prophecy? You believed for the longest time that you were the one to end the world. Today, the Warrior of Salvation shall battle the true Bringer of Chaos!"

Before I could question him further, he began chanting a spell. He raised his hand into the air, and someone teleported in front of him. There was a flash of silver as the person he summoned rushed up to me and swung a sword at me. I had just enough time to block him off with my axe and see who the attacker was. To my horror, it was the silver haired warrior, Kaede.

"It's Kaede?!" I cried out. "Kaede's the Bringer of Chaos?!"

"That's correct. He is my chosen one." The Demon King cackled.

Kaede broke away from me, and pulled out a black stone from his pocket. The stone began to glow and he became engulfed in a red light. When the light had faded, Kaede had been replaced by a black dragon, similar to the dragon form I had.

The black dragon let out a horrible roar. "He wishes to challenge you." The Demon King said in a sinister tone.

I shifted into my dragon form and he charged for me. He bit my neck and a slashed at his face with my claws. I countered him by whipping him with my long slender tail, knocking him back. Then I shot a blast of light energy from my mouth.

"Give me the stone." The Demon King said to the Renais twins.

"Never!" Ephraim exclaimed. Then Ephraim began to tense up.

"Brother? What's wrong?" Eirika asked.

"My...My body! I can't move!" He cried out.

Lyon began to walk over to them. I landed before them and raised my clawed hand, ready to bring it down on Lyon. Kaede landed next to me, grabbed my hand and threw me back. He lunged at me and scratched at my face with his talons. I managed to kick him off and launch another beam of light at him. He staggered backwards.

"Great job, Darian!" Ephraim praised me. "Keep it up! I know you can beat that thing!" I felt a small surge of power suddenly coarse through me. I let out a triumphant roar.

"I'm afraid it's a bit early for celebrations." The Demon King said as he pulled out the Dark Stone. The stone began to glow faintly, and a black aura surrounded Kaede. Then his body began to mutate. He grew a few feet larger. Spikes began forming on his back and neck. Odd, red markings appeared all over his body and his claws and teeth grew longer.

"He used the Dark Stone to strengthen the black dragon?!" I heard Eirika cry out.

Kaede flew up to me at an even faster speed than before. I was caught a bit off guard and he managed to punch me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. As I was doubled over in pain, he grabbed me around the neck and slammed me into the side of a cliff.

I hit the wall hard and fell to the ground. I tried to stand again, but when I looked up at my foe, Kaede had launched a beam of darkness that was twice, no, three times more powerful than mine. The beam completely enveloped me and I screamed in pain as I took the full force of the attack. I collapsed and turned back into my human form.

"Kaede, finish her off." The Demon King ordered. He turned to the Renais twins and said in a sinister tone, "Or, I can call him off but only if you give me the stone."

Kaede landed right beside me and reverted back to his human form. He pulled out his sword and put it to my neck. He raised it up and held it there for a moment, waiting for the Demon King's orders.

"DON'T DO IT!!" Someone shouted as they shoved Kaede away from me. It was Zel. He stood between me and the Bringer of Chaos, his arms stretched out.

"Don't do it, Kaede." Zel said defensively. "Darian's not the enemy."

"Zel." Kaede said emotionlessly. "Stand aside."

"No! I won't! Darian's my friend. You're my friend too, that's why there's no reason to fight."

Kaede began laughing. A terrible laugh. "You're no friend of mine." He said. "Haven't you realized yet who I am?"

"You're my best friend." Zel said. "That's enough for me."

"I am the Bringer of Chaos. I don't have friends. Not anymore. You've betrayed me by siding with my enemy."

Zel's eyes widened. "But...Kaede! I thought-"

Kaede seized Zel by the throat, lifted him into the air, and held him there. Zel struggled against his grip but it was useless. Then Kaede tossed him aside and the silver haired warrior raised his sword up once more, ready to bring it down on me this time.

"STOP!!" Eirika cried out. Kaede halted his attack and all of us turned to her. Then she began searching her brother's pockets.

"Eirika?! What are you doing?!" Ephraim demanded. She pulled out the Sacred Stone and walked over to Lyon.

"If this will cure you Lyon, then take it. But stop attacking my friends." She said.

"Eirika! Don't do it!" I shouted. But it was too late. She handed him the stone and he began to laugh evilly.

Kaede sheathed his sword and changed into his dragon form. He flew up and hovered over the lava. Lyon teleported onto his back and tossed the stone into the lava. We could only watch as the stone melted into the magma.

"Now, only one stone left to destroy." The Demon King's voice said wickedly.

"But...Lyon you..." Eirika began to say. She was too shocked by what happened.

"Your friend is gone." The Demon King said. "I devoured his soul a long time ago. Now Kaede, we fly to Darkling Woods."

With this said, Kaede flew away and disappeared into the distance. Ephraim fell over, finally regaining control over his body. He stood back up and went by his sister's side. She stood still as tears streamed down her face. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, brother." She sobbed.

"It's all right." He replied gently. "You were trying to help Lyon and Darian." Then he turned to me and Zel. The recruit was helping me stand back up. "Are you all right, Darian?" The prince asked.

"I'm fine." I said as I began to stand but quickly collapsed.

"You're far from fine." He said. "You need medical attention immediately.

The rest of the army had finished off the Gorgons and were now rejoining us. Before I knew it, my friends were surrounding me. Selena began to cast a healing spell on me and I felt my energy slowly return to me. When I felt strong enough, I stood up and walked over to the Renais twins.

"I need to talk to you both." I said. "If something like this happens again and I lose to Kaede, I want you to keep fighting without me. Leave me behind if you have to, but never sacrifice another sacred stone for me again."

"Abandon you?!" Eirika shouted. "We can't--"

"No, you can. If I can't defeat the Bringer of Chaos, then I'm unfit to inherit the power of Cathriana and I deserve to perish."

Ephraim was silent at first but then said, "We will not abandon you."

"You don't seem to get the point." I argued.

"Where in the prophecy does it say that you have to save this world on your own? You are not alone in this fight."

L'Arachel stood in the center of all of us and said, "There's no cause to be discouraged. Beyond these mountains lies the heart of Darkling Woods. Before we enter, we must head north to Rausten. After all, we still need the Sacred Stone of Rausten. As long as even one stone remains, all hope is not lost. Come on. We cannot give in to despair when victory draws so near!"

What she said was right. We still had one last stone and one last chance to succeed. But I couldn't feel all that hopeful at the moment. I kept feeling the shame for my defeat. The only thing that was coursing through my mind was I failed.

_I failed..._

((Author's Note: And so, the true Bringer of Chaos is revealed. Kaede has a bit a backstory to him, but it's hard to cover it in Legacy of Chaos sinse the story is told by Darian. I have made a few chapters in a story called; _Legend of Night_, which follows Kaede's story. I'm debating as to whether I should put them up after Legacy of Chaos has ended, put them up in a seperate story entirely, or don't put them up at all. I feel like Kaede's perspective is fairly important to the story, so I may put them up eventually.))


	30. Kaede's Resolve

**CHAPTER 30: KAEDE'S RESOLVE**

By the end of the night, we had made it out of the volcano wasteland and back to the mountain's forest regions. It was late in the night and I couldn't sleep. I looked around and saw that everyone else around me was sound asleep. Knoll was right beside me, snoring softly.

I decided to take a late night walk to clear my mind. I headed into the forest and followed a river for some ways. I was lost in thought as I continued my lonely stride. All was quiet this night, which was why I heard a set of footsteps behind me. A quick emotion read alerted me as to the person's intensions. Friendly, not hostile. I turned to see my two good friends, Artur and Lute.

"What are you two doing up?" I asked.

"The question is, what are you doing up?" Lute asked.

"I couldn't sleep." I replied.

"Is something bothering you?" Artur asked.

"Insomnia is usually caused by stress and other factors that create despair within your consciousness." Lute said matter-of-factly.

"I think I only caught about half of that." I admitted.

"If you need someone to talk to," Artur explained. "You now you've got all of us right behind you, ready to back you up."

I smiled. "I know." I sat down beside the river and watched the stars be reflected off the water. The currents moved about through the river unevenly, making the stars appear to be dancing within their waves.

"It's beautiful." Artur said as he watched the water.

As we continued to stare, entranced with the art in the river, I thought back to what had happened that day. My battle with Kaede went horribly. I felt my hope being to fade and I couldn't help but wonder, would I ever be able to defeat him?

We were only a week away from Rausten. _The climax is coming_. I realized. _Once we have the last stone, we'll be traveling to Darkling Woods to defeat Prince Lyon. Everything is so close to being wrapped up…_

Then I felt a sudden burst of pain in the back of my arm and blood trickled down my skin. I saw a knife was imbedded into my flesh. I turned ad saw the one responsible for the attack. To my horror, it was Kaede. He pulled the weapon out of me. Artur and Lute came to my aide. Lute pressed her hand to my wound. Neither one had any of their tomes or staves with them, and I didn't think to take my axe or Dragonstone with me.

"What the hell's your problem?!" I demanded, pressing my hand to the gash as well. I tore some of the ends of my cape and Lute helped me tie them around my bleeding arm.

"I will never forgive you." He snarled.

"What are you talking about?" Artur asked.

His grip on his knife tightened and I couldn't help but cringe at the thought of him trying to stab me again. Still, I refused to let him see my fear.

"I only want revenge." he said. "Revenge for what you have done to her."

"To who?" I asked. "You were the one who kicked my butt. Shouldn't I be the one wanting revenge? Who could I have possibly hurt?"

"ECHO!!" He roared. "You killed Echo!"

The name sounded familiar but where had I heard it before? Just then it hit me. Echo was the name of the little mage girl I had fought a while back. She had been good friends with Zel and I found out too late.

"I'm sorry about your girlfriend," I said. "But she was the enemy. I had to take her down."

"Shut up!" He shouted. "You….You…" His fists tightened so hard his knuckles were turning white. "You take everything you have for granted!" His voice began to rise even louder. "You have everything I wanted. Good friends, someone to love you. You don't deserve anything you've gotten in this world. NONE OF IT!!"

He was practically yelling at this point. I had to wonder if he was going to wake everyone at camp with how loud his voice was now. "You should never have been chosen as this world's savior. What kind of savior attacks an innocent person like you d everyday. I heard about the village Valter attacked. You and your little band of friends turned tail and ran. You abandoned all those innocent people."

"That is enough." Artur said as he stood in front of me and Lute. "You continue to call Darian a horrible person, and yet you are the one is works for the Demon King."

"I didn't want to be his chosen one!" Kaede shouted as he tossed the knife to the side. "I never wanted to be the Bringer of Chaos. I didn't ask for it."

"Then why are you siding with the Demon King? Surely you know what he's doing is wrong?" Lute asked.

His eyes turned to the ground, and a pained and forced chuckle emitted from him. "I have no reason to fight for this world." he said as if it was the most obvious answer. "The love of my life is dead, and my best friend has betrayed me."

"You mean Zel?"

His gazed shifted to me again with a glare. "I have lost everything. If I complete my task here, I can return home. That's all I want now." He began to approach me while turning his blade in his hand. "Do you know what my task is?"

I didn't reply for I already knew the answer. Here I stood, weaponless, without my Dragonstone, and no real way to defend myself. I could run, but he would be able to catch up to me most likely. I could cry for help, but I was too far away from the camp. Even if someone heard me, they wouldn't make it in time. No matter what I do at this point would prove meaningless.

"Get away from us." Artur shouted, trying to hold his own and sound intimidating. "It's three against one; do you honestly think you can defeat us?"

"Tough talk for a monk." Kaede said. "Stand aside. Or else."

"I will not. I won't allow you to kill Darian." Artur held his arms out stretched. "She is my friend. She does not walk this path alone, and she will never be alone in this battle. The divine will destroy you and the darkness that surrounds your heart."

Kaede didn't say anything. Instead I saw him begin to reach for the hilt of the sword. "ARTUR! GET OUT OF THERE!" I screamed.

Kaede drew the sword, and with movements faster than the eye could keep up with, he slashed the blade through the air…

And through Artur's neck. The blade ran through him swiftly, beheading him instantly. The monk's body fell limply to the ground; his head fell only a few feet from him. I couldn't take in what had happened very well, not at first. Once the shock passed, I realized what had just happened. Artur was dead.

I felt as if I would be sick when I had to look upon the decapitated head of my dear friend. My entire being trembled. I tried to scream, but my voice refused to leave my throat. I managed to turn my head towards Lute, she was pale, her eyes wide and her lip quivered. She looked as if she would faint at any moment. The only word she mumbled over and over again was Artur's name.

"I did warn him." Kaede said, as if he could care less. He stepped over Artur's body and made his way over to me. "And now, to finish what I was sent here to do."

He raised his sword high into the air, just as he had done during our battle today. I could not move. I was paralyzed. Lute then stood up and ran away. I thought nothing of it really, as I watched Kaede begin to bring the blade down.

"FLUX!!" I heard someone shout as a blast of darkness was shot at Kaede, knocking him back.

"Knoll!" I shouted as the shaman rushed to my side. "How did you?"

I woke up right when you were leaving." He explained. "When you didn't come back, I became worried and started looking for you. Then I heard someone shouting and I found you being attacked." He looked about the area and found Artur's body. "Artur!" He cried out. "What - what happened here?!"

Kaede then lunged himself at Knoll, Knocking him down. Kaede over powered Knoll with little effort. Then he pulled him up and put his blade to Knoll's throat.

"Knoll, no!" I cried out.

"So, this is the one you've fallen in love with." Kaede sneered. "I should just kill him, just as you killed Echo."

"Darian, just run." Knoll commanded, but I could easily hear the fear in his voice.

I felt my entire body tremble. If I made even one wrong move, Knoll would be killed. No, I couldn't deal with the death of another friend today. I couldn't bear any of this anymore. "D-don't do this, Kaede." I said fearfully. "I'm the one you want, not Knoll."

A wicked smile spread across Kaede's lips. "It's true, you are the one that I'm suppose to kill. But, I think it would be more fun to watch you suffer. Then you would know exactly what I felt the day Echo died."

"Please don't do this." I pleaded. It was the only thing I could think to do.

Just then, a pillar of fire arose from the ground right behind Kaede. Kaede shrieked in pain. He let go of Knoll and fell forward. His back was burned pretty badly, from what I could see.

Lute knelt down beside me, her Elfire tome in hand, Garm in the other. She placed Garm beside me, arose, and began chanting the contents inside the book. Knoll was doing the same and I took my battle stance with Garm. Kaede ran away before I could charge at him, and before Lute or Knoll could finish their spells. He completely disappeared into the darkness of the forest. I would have chased after him, but I really didn't have the heart.

The three of us turned to Artur's body. Lute was just staring at it, as if it was some sort of lie that she refused to believe. I placed my hands on her shoulders and lead her away from the sight. She refrained from moving at first, but she gave in and the three of us headed back to camp to tell everyone what had happened.

* * *

It was a long and exhausting night. Right after I was healed by Natasha, we had Artur's funeral. It was hard for all of us. He was such a good friend and to have to see his cold and limp body was unbearable. After his body was placed into the ground and he had been completely buried, Molder, one of our other healers, blessed the body, said a prayer, and allowed the rest of us to say a few words about him.

Everyone said something about how he was a great guy, pure of heart, and treated everyone fairly. When it came to my turn to say something, all I could think of was, "Artur was one of the nicest guys you would ever meet. He didn't deserve this. He was too good to have deserved death." I had to hold back a sob. "I just hope he's in a better place right now."

Then it was Lute's turn. She said nothing. She simply stared at the burial ground everyone was gathered around. A few more people said something, and then it was over. As everyone was leaving, I noticed Lute was standing firmly in place. Everyone else had already gone back to where they were sleeping or resting at. I was about to leave as well, when I heard Lute's voice.

"Artur..." She said sorrowfully. "I never knew how to react towards love, and you once told me, love needs no book. You said you loved me. I hadn't the foggiest idea how I felt back."

She took in a deep breath and sobbed. "Not until it was too late. I love you, Artur, please, don't leave me."

I could sense her emotions, even though I had absolutely no desire to scan them. It was as if it did so on its own. Her soul was in torment. I couldn't bear it any longer. I ran away from the grave and cried.

I found Rennac sitting alone by at the edge of the camp site early the next morning. He was eating some dried meat for breakfast and staring into space. I dropped a pouch filled with gold into his lap, which seemed to startle him a little.

"There," I said. "5930 gold. My debt to you is paid off so you can do what ever you please now."

He reached into the bag and dumped a small amount of gold coins into his hand, counting each of them.

"You don't believe me?" I said harshly. "That's all the money I owed you."

"Settle down." He shot back. "I'm just making sure, that's all."

I muttered an insult under my breath, but it was still loud enough for him to hear. He turned to me and said, "Look, I know your still upset about your friend dying, but don't go taking it out on everyone else, got it?"

"What do you care?" I shouted. "You didn't even know him."

"I didn't, but I also know that there are others who are more depressed by his death than you. Or did you forget about your friend, Lute."

I felt as if a dagger had been run though my chest. As much as I didn't want to admit it, Rennac was right. Lute was suffering more than any one else.

"It could have been worse." Rennac said.

"What are you talking about?"

"It could have been Knoll who had been killed last night. Wasn't that Kaede's true intention; to get back at you?"

The dagger had now turned into a sword and was run though my heart. I was saddened by Artur's death, but what if Knoll was the one to have been murdered?


	31. Dining With the Nobles

CHAPTER 31: DINING WITH THE NOBLES

We arrived at Rausten two days later where we got to meet L'Arachel's uncle, Pontifex Mansel. He offered each of us private rooms where we would be able to rest before setting out on the journey to Darkling Woods with Rausten's Sacred Stone.

I rested in the room L'Arachel had given me. I sat on the bed, contemplating all that had happened to me just recently. I was feeling pretty worthless after losing to Kaede and then getting attacked by him again in the same night, but the worst pain was knowing that Artur was dead and I didn't do anything to prevent his death. I felt so powerless.

Someone knocked on my door. "Darian, may I come in?" L'Arachel's voice asked. She came in before I could reply.

"Hello, Darian." She said, ever optimistic.

"What do you need, princess?" I asked.

"Come with me." She said. "I wish to prepare you for tonight's feast."

"What do I need to prepare for?"

"We must dress you for the occasion."

"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed now?"

She laughed at what I had said, as if it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. "You can't possibly expect to present yourself before Rausten's holy leader in such drab clothing. A torn up cape and armor? It's preposterous."

I'll be completely honest, but I never really cared for L'Arachel. She always seemed like some spoiled brat. Something I've never been able to put up with. Still, I didn't feel like fighting with a princess, so to humor her, I followed her to her quarters.

Her room was far fancier than any of the spare bedrooms we had been offered. Her bed was monstrous and looked very comfortable. A book shelf was placed against one wall, along with a desk beside it. Leaning against the far wall was an enormous wardrobe, which is where she headed after pulling me into her room.

She opened the wardrobe and began looking through many of the expensive looking outfits she owned. She pulled out a nice looking white dress and showed it to me. "Do you like this one?" She asked. "Or is there another color you would prefer."

"I don't really like dresses." I said.

"Darian, it doesn't matter if you like them or not. You must look presentable tonight. Don't you understand who you will be in the company of?"

"Your uncle. I'm well aware of that." I said sourly. "I don't care about what he thinks of me. Why is it so important that I look 'presentable' to him tonight?"

"You are the Warrior of Light." She replied. "You were brought here to help fight the Demon King and destroy his Bringer of Chaos. You have an important role in this world. In a way, you are now a noble."

"I don't care about status, nobility, or wealth. None of that matters to me. If your uncle can't accept me for who I am then he doesn't need to accept me at all. And besides, whether he finds me worthy or not wont change anything."

L'Arachel sighed. "Is wearing a dress really that much of a burden to you? Honestly, I think you would look lovely in one, if you would bother to take a moment to care about your appearance."

I ignored her and was about to head to the door when she said, "The other nobles will be well dressed tonight as well. Eirika, Ephraim, Innis, Tana, even your mercenary friend Joshua will be in Rausten's finest clothing."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Joshua in anything royal, but it still wasn't enough to change my attitude towards L'Arachel. "Why are you so gung ho about this dinner?" I asked.

"These are hard times, yes." She said. "But we need to take the time to enjoy our brief moments of happiness."

"Happiness?" I asked irritably. "One of my best friends just died a few days ago! I can't find much happiness right now."

"I understand your sorrow, Darian." She said soothingly. "But if Artur hadn't given his life to save you, you may not be here with us today. Kaede may very well have killed you."

"It wasn't a sacrifice it was murder!" I bellowed. My voice softly echoed through the room. We stood in an uncomfortable silence for some time. L'Arachel didn't seem too surprised by my sudden out burst. I'm sure she expected it. We had lost a few people in this war, so emotional break downs were sort of normal for us.

"I understand your pain." L'Arachel said finally. "But you must realize that there are others who are suffering more than you are. Your friend Lute was particularly close to Artur, and I'm sure that out of anyone in this army, she is struggling most with accepting the terrible fact that he is gone forever."

Lute… She had completely secluded herself from everyone else ever since Artur's death. It was as if a part of her died with him.

"I'm sorry…" I mumbled. "I'm sorry for snapping like that and your right about Lute. She's in a lot worse of pain than I am right now."

"It's alright." She said as she picked out another dress from her wardrobe. I watched her shift through all the different outfits she had and I decided I would just swallow my pride and wear one. This dinner was important to L'Arachel for some reason. I guess it was because she had been away from home for so long, she wanted to throw herself a 'welcome home party' of sorts. I really didn't care, but if it shut her up, I would wear a dress.

L'Arachel pulled out a frilly pink dress and asked "Do you like this one?"

"No!" I shouted. Pink was my least favorite color. "If you going to force me into one of those, at least make it one where I can have some dignity."

"You would have dignity with this." She said. "It's pretty."

"Can we try a different color, please?"

She looked into her wardrobe and pulled out a sky blue dress. I figured that it was going to be the best I could do so I agreed to wear it. L'Arachel helped me try it on to make sure it would fit right. The dress came only a few inches above the ground, and the back was left open a tad bit, exposing my back a little.

As L'Arachel helped me into the dress, she pointed at something on my back. "What's this marking?" She asked.

"What marking?" I tried to see what she was pointing to, but my head wouldn't turn far enough to she was talking about.

She pointed to the center of my upper back and said, "There's an odd design right here."

"Draw it out, I can't see it." I said.

L'Arachel went over to her desk and took out a quill, ink bottle, and a parchment of paper. She drew the design and showed it to me. It was just as she had said; it was a complicated design. "It's fairly small." She explained. "And it's black. It looks as if someone may have drawn it on you in ink."

"I didn't know about that mark before." I said. "I wonder what it means."

"Could you have forgotten it along with most of your past?" She asked. "Or maybe it was placed there when you were brought to this world to be the Warrior of Light."

I shrugged. "Who knows?" I looked at the paper again and shuddered. The thought of a randomly appearing marking bothered me some. L'Arachel picked out another darker blue dress for me to wear, one that would cover up that spot on my back so no one else would see it as well.

* * *

Dinnertime came quickly and a servant came and escorted me to the dinning hall. Gathered there were all the princes and princesses: Ephraim, Eirika, Innes, Tana, L'Arachel, and Joshua. At the head of the table was Pontifex Mansel, who watched me enter the room with a look of expectancy.

I took a seat beside Joshua. He was dressed in green and golden robes, and he had a long blue cape. His hair was brushed for once and he wasn't wearing his trademark hat. He was tugging at his neck collar in discomfort and he kept squirming around. It was obvious he wasn't enjoying the new clothes.

When I sat beside him, the two of us stared at each other for a long while and then we burst into laughter. Neither of us could imagine the other in fancy clothing.

"She got you too, huh?" I asked.

"Who?" Joshua asked.

"L'Arachel."

"No, I was attacked by Princess Eirkia and Princess Tana. The two like to play dress up I suppose."

"You look nice for once." I teased.

"Yes, and you look like a girl for once." He shot back jokingly.

As we waited for the servants to bring out the grub, I only spoke with Joshua for two reasons. The only other people at the table I considered to be my friends were Eirika and Ephraim, but both were in deep conversation with Tana. I'm sure I would be able to get along fine with Tana, but I never really had the chance to talk with her before. As for Innes and L'Arachel, well, I honestly didn't care for them. Innes was a jerk and L'Arachel annoyed me.

The second reason was because it was obvious Joshua and I felt sort of awkward around all the fancy regal people so I figured us awkward people needed to stick together.

The servants brought out the food and placed them on the table. There were all sorts of meats, vegetables, fruits, and desserts. Me and Joshua dug into the food and wolfed it down as if we hadn't eaten in days. In other words, it was the same way we ate every meal, everyday.

"Darian," Tana whispered.

"Yeah?" I asked through a full mouth.

"That isn't very lady like."

I realized everyone was staring at us. "My bad." I said, slightly embarrassed. I slowed down and tried to mimic the way Eirika, Tana, and L'Arachel acted at the dinner table, which was pretty hard for me. I could see Joshua was attempting to act more like Innes and Ephraim, which was hard for him also. We were definitely out of our element.

"L'Arachel tells me that you, Darian, are the Warrior of Light." Mansel said. "I also was informed that you were brought here from another world by a deity.

"Yep." I said.

"May I ask, which god was it that summoned you?"

"Cathriana."

Mansel looked thoughtful.

"I've never heard of this god." Innes said.

"There are a few reasons for that." Mansel explained. "The only ones who have ever really worshipped Cathriana are the Manakete. We humans don't include her in our religious teachings."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"We know of the existence of gods, and it was they who blessed us with the Sacred Stones, but the Manakete's mythology contradicts our beliefs. They say that it was the single goddess, Cathriana, whom bestowed us with them."

"So, you don't think she's real?" I asked. "I'm sort of the living proof that she exists. I've spoken with her through many visions in the past."

"It isn't just her." Mansel went on. "They worship many different gods that we do not believe in."

"Like who?" I asked.

"I don't know all of them, but I think I recall a 'Goddess of Dawn' being mentioned before. Apparently, this goddess controls both order and chaos."

"What about Cathiana? What kind of goddess is she?" I asked.

Mansel shrugged. "I'm unsure."

"You could probably ask Myrrh," Ephraim said to me. "She is a Manakete, so she could tell you about her religious beliefs."

I remained quiet through the rest of dinner. I couldn't stop thinking of all the questions I was going to ask Myrrh after dinner. Maybe I would finally learn a few things about the one who summoned me here. Maybe I would also learn why Cathriana chose me to be the Warrior of Light. After all, when I had asked, she didn't give me much of an answer.

"_You were not destined to be the Warrior of Light…originally_." That was the only thing she told me. I had a feeling that I would have to find out the truth on my own. Especially, seeing that no matter how many times I pestered her, she wouldn't tell me a thing. The hope of finally learning a few things filled me with great excitement. The anticipation was killing me.


	32. History of the Gods

**CHAPTER 32: HISTORY OF THE GODS**

Once dinner was over with, everyone from the table began to disperse to their own sleeping quarters. I was heading to my room when Joshua stopped me. "Darian," he said, "Wanna make a bet?"

I hate it when he does this. I've lost a lot of gold from his bets and I had learned a while back that he cheats most of the time. "On what?" I asked.

"I was thinking, when this war is over, I'm going to have to rebuild most of Jehanna and it's army. I know you already said that when everything ends you're going to have to go back to your world, but let's say that something happens and you're able to stay here."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you." I warned. "Cathriana told me that I was going to go back no matter what. I doubt she will be persuaded any other way."

"Do you want to stay here?"

I nodded.

"I want to make this bet in case you are able to remain here. Do you accept?"

"What are we betting on and then I might consider it." He was already reaching into his pocket as he said this and pulled out a gold coin. "If I win, when this war is over with I want you to come to Jehanna with me and become one of my generals."

I couldn't believe my ears. He wants me to become a member of his army and at a rank like that without having to work for it? "I don't deserve a rank like that." I said.

"Don't be modest. It's not like you." He says. "You do deserve it. You're a great warrior, one of the best. So, do you accept or not?"

I take the coin from his hand and shove it into my pocket. "You don't have to bet." I said. "If I'm able to stay here, I'll join your army. You and Natasha are going to need a great warrior like me around to show the recruit's the ropes."

He laughed and began to head back to his own room. As he walked away he said loudly, "That is, you'll join after you and Knoll get married, right?"

"Yup." I said as I went into my room. I immediately changed back into my regular clothes and sought out Myrrh. I asked one of the servants and he lead me to the room she was in. I knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

"Who is it?" she asked meekly.

"It's Darian," I replied. "I need to talk to you."

She opened the door and I entered the room. "What do you need?" She asked.

"I learned during dinner tonight that you Manakete worship Cathriana." I said.

"That's right." She replied with a little nod.

"I didn't know you did. I thought you only knew about the prophecy." I continued. "Why didn't you ever say anything about it."

"Humans don't believe in Cathriana."

"But why didn't you tell me about her?"

"You never asked."

Fair enough. "Could you answer me a few questions then?"

"Of course."

I sat myself down on her windowsill and she took a seat on her bed. "Who is Cathriana exactly?" I asked. "What kind of Goddess is she?"

"Cathriana is a silver dragon, as I'm sure you are aware of." Myrrh explained. "She has a very important role in this world."

"She's a guardian, isn't she?" I asked.

"Indeed." Myrrh replied. "She protects this world and watches over it, but she is more than a guardian. She is the heart of the planet."

"The heart?"

"Yes. When the world was first created, she was created along with it. She is the reason this world continues to thrive, because she is the reason it lives. When there comes a time the planet is threatened, she will come to its aide. Such as when she created the Sacred Stones to protect us from the darkness. She must have known about the strife we are currently in and summoned you here to save us."

"But if she created the Sacred Stones, why don't the humans worship her like you Manakete do?"

"She didn't actually show herself when she bestowed Magvel with the stones. Not to the humans anyway. That is why they believe that their multiple gods created them. We Manakete were the only ones Cathriana revealed herself to."

"Why?"

"The Manakete live in Darkling Woods, the place where all the darkness radiates from. She wanted to tell us of how the stones would repel evil and seal the Demon King away. But I think she was also afraid to speak to the humans."

"Is there a reason she fears speaking with them?"

"It is probably because she is a dragon. It's the same reason we Manakete do not socialize with humans. People fear dragons because of their great, destructive power. If she showed them her true form, they may fear her."

"Didn't the Manakete tell people about where the Sacred Stones really came from?"

"We tried, but they didn't believe us." Myrrh said with sigh. "They refused to believe in her."

"I see…" It depressed me a little. I had a feeling Mansel didn't believe me either. Heck, I'm the Warrior of Light, the one who was summoned by her. But if there is one thing I've learned, it's never argue with someone about religion. "I have one last question. How did the prophecy about the Warrior of Light and Bringer of Chaos get started?"

"Cathriana told us the prophecy when she spoke to us about the Sacred Stones." Myrrh explained. "She said, 'In the future, the Demon King will summon a person from another realm to help in his revival as well as inherit some of his power. But fear not, for I will do the same. I will bring a human from that same realm and they will inherit my power as well. That person shall be my 'Warrior of Salvation'.

"We Manakete have held that legend close to us over the centuries. We told the prophecy to the humans but only a few scholars took note of it. They labeled the prophecy as "folklore". The only humans to believe in the prophecy was those of Caer Pelyn. When my father, the Great Dragon, saved the people from a raid of monsters, the people wished to learn the ways of the one who saved them. My father taught them of Cathriana and the prophecy. Those people are the only humans who believe us."

"Do you know why Cathriana summoned me?"

Myrrh shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. She didn't tell us who would be the warrior she would choose, but I'm sure she saw that you would be the perfect candidate for the job."

I couldn't help but snicker at this. Me? The perfect candidate? What was Myrrh smoking? "Why do you say that?"

"Because, you're so kind, and caring. You push yourself just to protect us all. You are like a guardian, just like Cathriana."

"A foolish guardian." I remarked.

"Yes, it's true you do act foolish most of the time, but I think that's a good thing. If you took things to seriously, you would stress yourself out over little things. Because you are foolish, you're able to calm in most situations. You are not easily frightened. Actually, you are one of the bravest people I know. Your courage and love for your friends makes you the perfect Warrior of light and Salvation."

"Wow, thanks Myrrh." I said, blushing from the compliments. "You're a good kid."

She gave me this funny look.

"What?" I asked. "Don't tell me I offended you by calling you a kid?"

"No, but calling me a child I don't think is appropriate."

"Why's that?"

"I'm over 1500 years old."

"OH!" I shouted with surprise. "Next time I'll just call you 'granny'."

She looked a little angry, but she realized I was kidding and chuckled a little. I stood up to leave when I remembered one last thing I wanted to ask her. "Myrrh," I said.

"Yes?"

"Who is the 'Goddess of Dawn'? I asked.

"Ah, I'm surprised you found out about her." Myrrh smiled a little. "she is the one who created this world, all the living things that live on it, and even Cathriana. We learned of her when Cathriana spoke to us after she made the Sacred Stones."

"Mansel said that humans don't worship her."

"They don't here." She said. "That's because she lives else where, but she does reside in this world."

"What's her name?"

"Ashunera, the goddess of order and chaos."

I headed for the door and said, "Thanks for explaining all this to me."

"It was my pleasure, Darian." She replied.

With my questions answered, I left Myrrh's room and headed back to mine.


	33. A Midnight Show Down

**CHAPTER 33: A MIDNIGHT SHOW DOWN**

It must have been at least an hour past midnight, and still I couldn't fall asleep. There was a lot on my mind. I thought back to my first day on Magvel, how I was found by the Wyvern Lord Glen, how I stumbled into the army and was pulled into a war. After that, I was forced to endure battle after battle, striving to stay alive and fulfill a prophecy I knew little about.

_Now, with the last Sacred Stone in our protection, we'll march tomorrow to Darkling Woods and defeat Lyon once and for all_. I thought to myself. I took my Dragonstone from my pocket and looked over it. The smooth surface of the stone was cool as I held it firmly in my hand. I thought back to the last time I had spoken with Cathriana. She had said something about using my emotion reader to help me, and that my friends would give me strength through the Sacred Stones. How any of those things were connected still baffled my mind.

There was a quick knock on my door. "Come in." I said. Knoll walked in.

"You couldn't sleep either?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"Did it hurt?"

"Stop being a smart ass."

He chuckled a little. "You know I'm just joking." He sat down beside me on my bed and wrapped his arm around me. "We haven't had much alone time, have we?"

"We're in the middle of a war, what do you expect?"

He nuzzled his nose against my neck and said softly, "I know." We stayed that way for a while. "I heard Joshua teasing you about marrying me."

"Yeah."

"Would you…want to marry me?"

I really was dreading this topic. I'm only sixteen, I shouldn't be thinking about stuff like that. I know it was common in this world, but I just didn't feel like I was ready for that kind of commitment. I loved him. I loved him more than anything else. It's just…

"Darian?" He asked after a long awkward pause.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet." I said. "Besides, if you're going to go to my world with me, I'm going to have to show you how to live in it. My world is extremely different than this one."

"I told you before, I'm not afraid."

"I know."

"The only thing I have to worry about is getting caught in a battle between you and a spider."

"I should hit you for that."

He pulled me into a tight hug and the two of us fell back onto my bed. He held me close to him and I rested my head on his chest. I felt safe within his arms. I wanted this moment to last forever. My eyes slowly began to close and I drifted off into sleep.

* * *

There came a quick pound on the door and someone cried out my name urgently. I didn't wake up in time before Seth threw open the door and saw me and Knoll laying next to each other.

"Sorry if I'm intruding on a personal moment, but the castle is being invaded." Seth explained.

I glanced out the window and saw that it was still dark out. I must have been asleep for only a few hours. "Why are they attacking us now?"

"It's another one of Grado's sneak attacks. We need everyone down in the throne room." I pushed myself off the bed and grabbed Garm.

As Knoll and I headed down to our destination, he turned to me and said, "You're…really cute when your asleep." I blushed but said nothing back.

By the time we got down to the throne room, everyone else was already gathered there and preparing to counter the enemy forces.

It was pretty obvious that Grado was going to make one final push to destroy the last Sacred Stone. They would want to eliminate the biggest obstacle that stood in their way of reviving the Demon King.

The only problem we would have in the battle that night would be fighting in the dark. Some of the soldiers carried torches and that would be the only light source we would have in the dark corridors of the castle. Without them, we would be stuck in pitch black.

"Stay close together!" Ephraim ordered. "If you need to split up, do so in groups."

Only a few dared to venture further into the castle with only a small team. It was nearly impossible to see the enemy within the shadows.

I stayed close to Colm and Rennac, who had the best vision in the dark, while Knoll kept close to my side. He was trying to act manly and look as if he was protecting me. It would have been great, if _**he**_ was the one carrying the battle axe instead of me.

Within the first few minutes of the battle, we were attacked by several druids. I sliced them up with Garm, while Colm and Rennac teamed up to defeat another one. Knoll backed us up with several Eclipse spells. As soon as the druids were killed off, a batch of sword masters and great knights pounced on us.

We fought this group off as well, later backed up by Joshua, Zel, Selena, and Cormag. but the enemy swarms felt as if they were endless. Everywhere we turned a new Grado soldier was there to attack us. We needed a better strategy if we wanted to counter their assault.

The Rausten castle seemed to be fairly large and I hoped that I would have enough room to take dragon form. I took out my Dragonstone, transformed into the silver dragon, and released a powerful beam at the wave of soldiers coming from the entrance. They disintegrated immediately.

I flew out of the doors and went to the outside. The moonlight provided me with the source of light I needed to fight off the soldiers waiting to enter the castle. I charged a powerful blast, ready to fire it at the next soldier that so much as looked at me wrong.

Then something huge lunged at me and knocked me to the ground and pinned me. "Ready to lose again?" The menacing voice of my worst enemy said.

"Kaede!" I shouted. I released a blast of energy at the Black Dragon's face, but it did little damage. He was still in his new monstrous form the Demon King had granted him in the last battle.

He seized me by my throat and threw me against the castle, nearly breaking the walls down. He slashed at me with his great claws and I did my best to slash at him back. I managed to leap back to my feet and fly into the air. He took flight as well and followed after me.

I tried to slow him down with another beam, but it didn't faze him at all. I did the only thing I could think to do; fly away. He was much faster than me and caught up to me easily. He grabbed my tail and pulled me back towards the ground, and then he slammed me against the surface with all his might.

Before I could get back up, he released a powerful blast of dark energy that completely engulfed me. I cried out in agony as I reverted back to my human form, unable to keep fighting. I fought to stay conscious, but my vision was beginning to fade.

My mind kept screaming at me to run, but I was too paralyzed by fear to move. Kaede snatched me in his powerful clawed hands and lifted me up.

"Excellent." A new voice said. "You were able to defeat her yet again. No wonder Fomortiis chose you as his Bringer of Chaos."

I saw the person talking to Kaede. He was some old guy whom I had never seen before. He laughed maliciously.

"Why are you so happy, Riev?" Kaede asked irritably. "The battle's lost. Your soldiers are nearly whipped out."

"It matters not," The old man, Riev, said. "We have an even bigger prize; their precious Warrior of Light."

"Shall I kill her now?"

"No, we'll take her with us to Darkling Woods. She'll make the perfect sacrifice to the Demon King."

All hope was lost. I wasn't strong enough to fight against Kaede's grip. I was barely able to move as it was. "Help!" I cried out with the last of my strength. "Someone help me!"

A stream of fire shot at Kaede, but he managed to dodge it. I saw Myrrh in her dragon form, preparing to launch another burst of flames.

"Let Darian go!" Knoll's voice rang through the night's air. He stood beside Myrrh, a magic tome held tightly in his arm.

"Ignore them." Riev said. "You just worry about getting to Darkling Woods." With that said, he used his staff and teleported away.

Kaede took to the sky and flew away, holding me tightly in his grasp.

Knoll hopped on Myrrh's back and the two flew after him. "Darian, I'm coming!" Knoll shouted. I managed to free one of my arms and I reached for Knoll.

The shaman moved on to Myrrh's head and he held his hand out for me. We were only inches away from each other.

"Just a little more..." I said as I reached as far as I could.

Kaede then turned around and whipped Myrrh with his tail. The hit threw her back a few feet. Then he launched a blast of darkness at the two. They were both hit by the attack and Myrrh tumbled down to the ground below.

"KNOLL!! MYRRH!!" I screamed for them as I watched them hit the ground.

"I'm getting tired of your yelling. Kaede growled as he swatted me in the head with his other hand. It wasn't hard enough to kill me, but there was enough force to render me unconscious.

* * *

((I've realized that I don't talk at the end of my chapters as much as everyone else on this site does. XD

I've gotten this question a lot. How do you pronounce Kaede's name? It's pronounced; KAY-DUH. It's definitely and odd name I came up with randomly.

By the way, I've gone back and edited a lot of older chapters. I've managed to patch up grammer and spelling errors. I hate having a computer that doesn't have spell check. I also changed a few chapters around so that way they include Darian's emotion reader ability earlier. I hate the fact that I forgot to include that little bit of important detail in the first few chapters.

It's almost hard to believe, but Legacy of Chaos is nearing its end. Wow! I'm going to go celebrate! It'll be the first story I've ever completed. So, I thank everyone that's stuck with this insane story of mine thus far. You guys rock!))


	34. The Evil Bishop and the Dragon Zombie

**CHAPTER 34: THE EVIL BISHOP AND THE DRAGON ZOMBIE**

I heard voices. They were muffled at first, but when I began to wake up a little more, I could hear them clearly. I recognized the speakers as Kaede and Riev. I tried to sit up, but my hands were tied behind my back, and I was so sore I could barely move.

Kaede walked over to me and gave me a sharp kick in my side. I yelped and curled into a ball, whimpering some. "What the hell was that for?" I moaned.

He readied himself for another kick and I cringed. "That's enough." Riev said. "There's no need to inflict any more pain on her. She'll suffer soon enough."

"Humph." Kaede said as he continued to glare at me.

Just then, Prince Lyon teleported before the three of us. "Ah, I see you've brought the Warrior of Salvation with you." He said in his chilling and sinister voice.

"Yes, we think she will make the perfect sacrifice to you, Demon King." Riev said.

"Like hell your going to sacrifice me!" I shouted. Kaede kicked me again but I bit my tongue so I wouldn't cry out.

"We'll see just how much fight you have left in you soon." Kaede sneered. He held out my Dragonstone tauntingly. "You can't transform without this, can you?" He handed the stone to Riev. The bishop tucked the stone into his robes. Then Kaede pointed to Garm, which was sitting a few feet away from me. "And now you're weaponless. You pose no threat."

_No!_ My mind screamed. _This can't be happening. This has to be some kind of nightmare!_ It didn't matter how much I wanted to convince myself this, I knew the truth. I wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. _Looks like my dumb luck has finally run out._

"Release the Warrior of Light, Demon King." A mysterious voice said. We turned to see a man walk over to us.

The Demon King chuckled darkly. "Ah, one of the Dragonkin, hm? I've seen your face before, lizard. Yes, during that accursed battle so long ago. When those wretched men bound me in their fetters. They fought with an ally from the dragonkin at their side, I believe your name was Morva."

"Release the Warrior of Light, Demon King." Morva said once more.

Kaede stepped forward and challenged the other Manakete. Morva shape shifted to an enormous golden dragon that was identical to Myrrh's dragon form, only he was much larger. He released a stream of fire from his maw, but Kaede changed to his dragon form as well and withstood the attack with ease. Morva flew over to me, and used his claw to break my ties.

"Hurry, Warrior of Light. I'll keep them distracted while you make your escape." he said.

"No, I'll fight with you." I replied. "I'm not going to run with my tail between my legs like some pathetic coward."

"I may not survive this skirmish, but you must keep living. The fate of the planet rests in your hands."

Morva sent forth another burst of flames, engulfing Lyon in the fire. The Grado prince teleported out of the fire's range with only a few singes on his clothes. He raised his hand and released a blast of darkness that enveloped Morva. The dragon shrieked in pain as it fought to escape the blast.

When Lyon's attack ceased, Kaede began viciously raking his claws against Morva's flesh, drawing blood. The golden dragon turned to me and growled, "Get out of here now."

I grabbed Garm and hesitated. I knew I didn't stand a chance against Kaede. No matter how hard I fought I could never even scratch him. Heck, I didn't even know how powerful Lyon was, and on top of that, Riev still had my Dragonstone. Morva was right, I had to run.

And so I fled. I scurried as quickly as I could through the Darkling Woods. I traveled some ways, when suddenly Riev teleported right in front of me. He snickered darkly. "We shall not allow you to escape, Warrior of Salvation."

I charged at him, but he released a blast of light energy at me before I could even reach him. It knocked me back a few feet, but I pushed my self back up and tried another attack. I got over to him just in time and slashed at him. I completely severed his left arm. He screamed as he held the sliced flesh.

"I… won't be defeated by… a little whelp like you." He snarled as he chanted another incantation. I tried to hack away at him again, but he managed to dodge my attacks and cast the spell before I could get another attack in. The magic blast hit me dead-on and I collapsed to the ground. The spells he was using were extremely powerful, and I was unsure if I was going to be able to withstand any more attacks from him.

Still, I wouldn't be defeated yet. I pushed myself up and charged once again. He released another blast of light energy, but I ran right through the burst and impaled my axe into Riev. His mangled corpse laid sprawled on the ground. I searched his robes and found my Dragonstone.

"I'll be taking this back, now." I said as I thrust the stone back into my pocket. I managed to kill Riev, but I had taken too much damage in the process. The last spell he had used drained me of most of my energy. I sat down against a tree, trying to regain my lost energy.

As I lay there, I couldn't help but wonder how Morva was holding up. He came to my rescue and he was willing to sacrifice himself to save me. I felt worthless and powerless against Kaede and the Demon King. If _I were stronger, I wouldn't have needed saving. Morva never would have had to risk his life for me and I never would have gotten captured in the first place_. I thought to myself. I slammed my fist to the ground, cursing under my breath.

"I hate how weak I am!" I yelled.

A rustling quickly caught my attention. Monsters of all kinds were approaching me now. Mauthe Doogs, Tarvos, Mogalls, and Revenants looked at me with greedy hunger. I was to be their next prey.

I stood up and readied myself in a sort of battle stance. "I'm not going down without a fight!"

* * *

I walked along the dark and winding forest trails of Darkling Woods. A trail of monster carcasses littered the area behind me from a battle I had with them. I managed to destroy them while in Dragon form. That would have been the only way I would have beaten them, but despite being a dragon, I was still too weak from my battle with Riev and I wound up taking more damage during my second skirmish.

Blood oozed from several slash marks along my arms, legs, sides, and stomach. I tried to push the pain aside and keep walking forward to my undecided destination, but I was feeling faint. I breathed heavily as I dragged Garm along on the ground. Normally, the axe didn't bother me, but because of my fading strength it felt much heavier than usual. I felt as if I was about to pass out at any given moment.

My legs gave out on me and I collapsed. I laid motionlessly in the dirt, waiting for another group of monsters to find me and finish me. My body was broken and unable to be pushed any further.

_Sorry Cathriana. _I thought to myself. _I just couldn't live up to the prophecy's expectations. I…I failed again._

I heard footsteps. Lots of them. They were coming towards me. I closed my eyes, waiting to feel the jaws of Mauthe Doogs clamp down on me. Or the decaying claws of the Revenants rake against my flesh. Or maybe even the axe of a Tarvos slice me in half. Either way, I expected to face a painful end. I just prayed it would be over quickly.

Something seized me, pulled me up, and…

Huged me? I opened my eyes to see Knoll squeeze me tightly against him. "Darian." He said through a sigh of relief. "I was so worried. We need to get you to a healer! You're wounds are deep."

Lute came over to me with a heal staff and went to work on curing my injuries. "Thanks Lute." I said. I didn't expect her to reply. She had become unsociable ever since Artur's murder.

"It was…my pleasure, Darian." She replied.

"Lute! You actually spoke to me." I said, feeling overjoyed.

"Mm. Yes, I did." She got up and joined with Kyle, Forde, and Seth as they were finishing off a group of monsters.

"She seems to be doing better as of late." Knoll explained.

"I wonder what happened." I said.

"Kyle seems to have broken the ice encasing her heart. Ever since those two started talking to each other, she seems to be opening up to others once more."

_Kyle, huh? _I know that she's still hurting from Artur's death, but at least she has someone to talk to now.

Selena, Zel, and Myrrh found Knoll and I and the three ran over to us. "Are you okay, Darian?" Zel asked.

I nodded. "I'm fine."

Zel hung his head low. "I'm sorry about all this." He said somberly.

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes I did. Kaede was my best friend. I should have known that he was from the other world, just like you. There was enough evidence; I had figured out that he was different from everyone else. But when we found out that you were the Warrior of Light, I was afraid that Kaede was the Bringer of Chaos."

I pushed myself up and rested my hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You're on my side, right?"

He nodded. "I'll stick by you, just like before."

Selena smiled. "Well, at least Darian's safe. What happened after they abducted you?" She asked.

"They were going to use me as a sacrifice to the Demon King." I replied. A sick taste built up in my mouth when I thought of them offering me to that monster. "I was able to escape when a Manakete came and rescued me."

"A Manakete saved you?" Myrrh asked. "What was the Manakete's name?"

"Morva." I replied.

"Oh…"

"Why, do you know him?"

"He is…my father."

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Morva was Myrrh's father? What if he had been killed while trying to save me? It would be my fault that he's dead.

Ephraim and Eirika ran over to me, both had a look of worry on their faces. "What's up?" I asked.

"The entrance to the Dark Temple is being blocked by a Dragon Zombie." Eirika explained.

I swallowed hard. _Please…tell me that the zombie isn't Morva… _I thought to myself. _Knowing that freak, Fomortiis, he would use a freshly killed opponent as one of his soldiers of death._

"I'll handle this." I said as I transformed into my dragon form. Knoll climbed onto my back and we flew to the Dark Temple. Once I emerged from the tree's barriers, I spotted the temple and the Dragon Zombie guarding it. It looked like any other Manakete, but it was no longer a golden color. Instead it was a pale, grayish-purple.

Myrrh took to her dragon form as well and the two of us flew to the temple. The Dragon Zombie shot a burst of toxic gas from its mouth at Myrrh and I. We both dodged the attack and I sent a burst of light energy from my jaws.

The beam made a hit against the zombie, but it breathed its nauseous gas once more. I breathed it in and began to feel ill. My soaring slowed greatly as I felt like I would be sick.

Knoll chanted his Gleipnir spell, releasing an almighty blast of darkness. The Dragon Zombie bellowed as it was consumed by the dark energy. Myrrh then flew down to the ground and confronted the dragon face to face. I saw her mumble something under her breath, and then she released a powerful stream of flames. The Dragon Zombie's flesh was ablaze, but it still kept fighting. It breathed its decaying breath on Myrrh, making her cry out in pain. Forcing herself to keep going on, she released another burst of fire, enveloping the dragon again in flames.

The Dragon Zombie tumbled over. It stayed alight until its body was reduced to ashes. We managed yet another victory.

* * *

We were preparing to enter the Dark Temple when I noticed Myrrh standing far away from everyone else. She was staring into the distance, looking saddened.

"Myrrh?" I asked.

"Father…" She murmured softly.

So it was true. That Dragon Zombie we fought was Morva. "Myrrh…" I said sorrowfully. "I'm so sorry."

She turned to me and buried her face into my shirt. She wept, begging her father to forgive her. I tried to comfort her as best I could, but I just didn't know what to say.

_I will get you for this, Fomortiis._ I swore to myself. _I will kill you for all the innocent people you've hurt!_


	35. Into Darkness Into Light

**CHAPTER 35: INTO DARKNESS, INTO LIGHT**

With Riev and the Draco Zombie defeated, it was time to enter the Dark Temple. As we made our way into the center room, were greeted by none other than Lyon and Kaede.

"So, you've finally arrived." The Demon King said.

"We'll kill you!" Ephraim shouted as he charged for Lyon. The Necromancer teleported away and reappeared behind Ephraim. "Our fight must be delayed for the time being." The Demon King said. "First, the beings of the prophecy must battle each other."

Lyon teleported himself the back of the temple and Kaede stepped forward and took to into his Dragon form. I did the same and the two of us flew upward.

I did nothing at first but just hovered in mid air. "Kaede." I said. "Revenge is no reason to help the Demon King. I'm sorry I killed Echo, but you can't do this. You'll cause the end of the world!"

"This world matters to me no more." He said. "You can just die. That would pay for the sins you've committed against me."

That was it. I had no choice but to fight him. The two of us lunged at each other and began biting, scratching, and releasing burst of energy. I ran my claws across his chest as he uppercut me. I launched a beam of light at him as he fired a beam of darkness. The two attacks collided but his beam overpowered mine and I was sent hurtling into the wall of the temple. I fell to the ground and reverted back into my human form.

Everyone rushed over to me. Selena, L'Arachel, and Natasha healed me and I was back to full strength again. But I knew I didn't stand a chance against Kaede. I slumped to the ground. "It's hopeless." I whimpered. This was the third time I was defeated by him. "I can't win."

"If only there was a way to power up Darian, just as the Demon King has Kaede." Eirika said.

"This Dark Stone was created from the Fire Emblem." Fomortiis said. "Only it has the ability to grant my Dragon power." Then he turned to Kaede. "Now Kaede, feed off their fear, sorrow, and hatred and turn it into power. Destroy them all."

Joshua helped me be back on my feet and then rushed over to L'Arachel. "Give me the Sacred Stone." He said.

"Why?" she asked.

"I have a plan. I just hope it works." He said as he took the stone. "Darian, transform back into a dragon again." He commanded.

"If you haven't noticed, I can't even scratch the guy." I remarked "What good will it do?"

"A lot more good than you sitting here sulking."

I had to agree so I changed back into my silver dragon form. Then Joshua held up the stone. "DARIAN!" He shouted. "I believe in you! I know you can win this fight! Don't give up!"

The Sacred Stone began to glow, and so did I. I felt a surge of power course through me. I released a blast of light energy at Kaede. The attack did little against him, but the beam was stronger than before.

"What's going on?" Colm asked.

"Don't you see?" Joshua said as the stone began to glow brighter. "It's just as the Demon King said. While Kaede gains power from negative emotions, Darian gains power from positive emotions. The Sacred Stone is able to transfer those emotions into Darain."

"But I thought Lyon said--" Neimi began.

"That only the Dark Stone could do that?" Joshua finished for her. "Yes, it's true that Grado's stone was known as the Fire Emblem and had more power than the others, but it was a Sacred Stone none the less." He turned to the rest of the army. "Everyone! Have faith in Darian. Believe that she can succeed. Pool all your positive emotions. Give her strength!" He then handed the stone to Knoll. "Do you love Darian more than anyone else?"

"Of course I do." He said.

"Then you can give her more strength than any of us could because of your love."

Knoll held the stone tightly and spoke a few quiet words. The stone shone brighter than before. Suddenly I felt myself grow slightly larger. I gained golden armor that was decorated with blue markings and emeralds. My wings changed to look more angle-like, and axe-like blades appeared on the sides of my wrist armor.

"What?!" The demon King demanded. "How can this be happening?!"

I released a blast of light energy from my maw at Kaede. He sent out a beam of darkness to counter the attack, but my beam over powered his within an instant. My attack enveloped Kaede in its light. The black dragon bellowed in pain as he fell from the air and hit the ground. He reverted back into his human form and remained motionless.

I landed right in front of Lyon. "It's over. Your Dragon has been defeated."

"He might have been defeated but I have not." The Demon King sneered.

Two Draco Zombies appeared from the darkness of the temple. Monsters of all kinds followed them from the ruin's shadows.

"That's cheating!" Colm shouted.

I released a beam of light the disintegrated a group monsters. Myrrh shapshifted into her dragon form and battled one of the dragon zombies. Coming to her aide were Saleh, Gerik, and his mercenaries.

Knoll, Colm, and Neimi ran beside me and attacked the monsters that came towards us. I continued to release blasts of light that destroyed the creatures quickly.

Selena galloped over to me. Her horse reared back as Selena cast the Excalibur spell at more of the hell minions. "Go help Princess Eirika and Prince Ephraim!" Selena shouted at me.

The monster swarm seemed endless. Every time one of the creatures would fall, two more would appear from the shadows to take its place. I knew the only way to get rid of the monsters was to kill Lyon, but a group Gorgons and several Gwyllgi were surrounding him, guarding him from any who dared oppose him.

I tried to make an attack from the air, but seven Gargoyles flew up to stop me from making an aerial assault. I saw Eirika and Ephraim were trying to cut through the wall of monsters that were protecting Lyon. I launched a blast of light that took down half the monsters, while Seth, Duessel, and Selena finished off the rest. With that, we managed to clear a way for the twins to make their final strike. The two charged and ran their sword and spear into Lyon's chest.

Silence. The fighting stopped. All was calm as everyone - human and monster - turned to see that moment. Prince Lyon collapsed to the ground, the weapons still embedded in him.

Having no purpose in staying, the monsters turned and left, disappearing back into the shadows of the temple. Everyone gathered around the twins and the fallen prince of Grado.

Eirika knelt down beside him. "Lyon..." She whispered. Her brother did the same and held Lyon's head up.

He first looked at Ephraim. "Ephraim...I wish I could have been as strong as you. Maybe then…I could have fought off the Demon King's control on me." Then he turned to Eirika. "Eirika, I never had the courage to tell you this before, but...I love you." Then, his eyes slowly closed and his body went limp. Everyone lowered their heads as they watched Lyon pass on.

I noticed Kaede was still lying limply on the ground where he had fallen. I walked towards him and said, "Sorry about that. But I don't die easily."

"So I noticed." He said weakly. I jumped; startled by the fact he was still alive. "Damn it… I wanted to avenge her!"

I sat down beside him. "Kaede, I know it's not enough, but I truly am sorry for what happened to Echo. I not only hurt you, but Zel too."

Zel walked over to us as well and knelt down beside Kaede. He lifted his friend's head up so the two could talk more properly to each other.

Kaede turned to the recruit and said, "Zel, please forgive me for the monster I have become. You were my first and dearest friend in this world and I took that friendship and spat on it. I...I'm sorry I'm the Bringer of Chaos."

"You're no Bringer of Chaos to me." Zel said. "You're Kaede, my best friend."

Kaede seemed surprised to hear him say that. Then he let out a pained laugh. "You haven't changed a bit have you?" he mumbled through a ragged chuckle. Suddenly, his body began to slowly disappear. He was becoming more transparent by the second.

"What's happening to you, Kaede?" Zel asked in shock.

"Who knows?" Kaede replied. He put a fading hand on Zel's shoulder and said, "Zel, become the best soldier this continent has ever seen. Help people, just like you said you would. Protect them, and show them how true of a hero you are."

"Yeah..." Zel said through choked tears. "I will for you and Echo."

Then, Kaede's body completely disappeared. His job for the Demon King was done. And he failed.

Colm, Neimi, Joshua, Knoll, Selena, Cormag, and Rennac left the rest of the crowd to join with me. I turned to Joshua and asked; "How'd you know that the Sacred Stone could power me up like that?"

He smiled. "To be honest, I just made a guess."

"You guessed?!" the eight of us exclaimed.

"Well...yeah..." He admitted sheepishly.

"What would you have done if that little guess of yours was wrong?" Rennac asked.

Joshua shrugged. "I don't know. Apologize for letting everyone on like that and for making myself look stupid?"

"Oh well." I said. "We've lived off of dumb luck all this time. I suppose we should be used to it."

Before anyone could utter another syllable, the entire room turned pitch black. We were all enveloped in darkness so thick; you could barely see the person next to you. "Wh-Who turned out the lights?" Neimi asked nervously.

Then Lyon's body began to glow and we heard the sinister voice of the Demon King. "Destroying this maggot was all that was needed to free me from my imprisonment." He said. "Now, I have returned!"

The darkness faded, restoring the already faint light of the temple. Lyon's body disappeared, and standing in his place was the giant, hulking form of the Demon King. He let out a horrible roar, causing the earth under us to shudder and shake. Fomortiis had been revived.


	36. Fomortiis Rises

**CHAPTER 36: FOMORTIIS RISES**

_This is it._ I told myself. My heart raced as I stared down Fomortiis, the Demon King. The moment of destiny was upon me. The creature I was brought here to defeat was standing before me. With my sacred axe, Garm, in hand, I charged towards the final enemy.

"Darian, wait!" Knoll cried out as he chased after me. I heard several more footsteps follow as well, but I hadn't taken the time to look and see who else had come along with me.

Fomortiis let out a deafening roar which shook the ground and walls of the ruins. Just then, a strange red barrier appeared around the Demon King's area, encasing him and anyone else inside. Unfortunately, I was one of those. I glanced around and saw that I wasn't the only one trapped. Those who followed me into the fray were stuck inside the barrier as well. Knoll, Colm, Neimi, Joshua, Zel, Cormag, Selena, and Rennac had followed me and were now imprisoned within the force field with Fomortiis.

Eirika turned to L'Arachel, who was still holding the Sacred Stone. "Use the stone. Hurry!"

L'Arachel held up the stone, which began to shine intensely, filling the room with its luster. Fomortiis bellowed a string of curses as he became engulfed in the light. When the light faded, we saw that the Demon King still stood before us, but he wasn't moving. The barrier remained as well.

"The stone sealed the Demon King's soul away once more," L'Arachel said. "But I'm afraid we still must destroy its body. Or rather, those trapped within the barrier will have to fight it."

"We have to fight this thing?!" Rennac cried out in horror. "Why me?"

"Our lives ride on your shoulders now," L'Arachel said. "So don't screw this up, Rennac."

"Yeah, yeah." The rogue replied in an emotionless and annoyed tone.

Natasha stood outside the barrier. "Joshua, everyone, please be careful." She said softly. "We've come so far…I don't want to have to see any more friends die."

"We're not going to die now, love." Joshua said in his cheesy heroic voice. "Believe in us."

"This is it." Zel shouted, mainly to himself. "Demon King, I will avenge Kaede and Echo!"

Selena turned to Cormag and said softly, "I can't believe this is happening."

He nodded. "We may not survive this battle. It was nice knowing you, general Selena."

Neimi gripped Colm's hand tightly. "We'll make it through, don't worry." Colm assured her. She smiled, but fear still coursed through her.

I stared eye to eye with the now hallow shell of the Demon King. "Fomortiis." I snarled. "I was summoned to this world to destroy you and stop your evil intentions. Today, the prophecy Cathriana predicted will be fulfilled. Today, I shall--"

"Enough talking and more prophecy fulfilling!" Colm shouted.

"Shut up, Colm," I shot back. "I'm trying to be dramatic here. This is history in the making. I want to be remembered for the awesome speech I make before I wallop on Fomortiis's husk."

"Whatever! You can write down a bunch of crap and say that it was you're dramatic speech after this battle. Just destroy that thing!"

I dashed towards the Demon King and slashed at him with Garm. Sadly, the axe did little damage against his tough hide. "Damn." I muttered to myself as he released a blast of darkness in retaliation.

The blast struck me and sent me flying into the barrier. I hit the side of it with a powerful THUD. While I was stunned from the impact, the Demon King seized me in hands. I struggled against his hold, but I was unable to squirm away. His grip tightened, and I could see red electric sparks dance about his fingers. The sparks zapped me, causing a searing pain to shoot through me. The lightning intensified and I felt as if I was being burned alive. Slowly, my vision began to fade and a voice echoed through my mind.

"_You were never destined to destroy me!"_ The voice said. I quickly recognized it as Fomortiis's.

My mind went black. The next thing I knew, I was standing in a world of complete darkness. I wasn't sure if I was alive or dead, but I felt cold and weak. There wasn't a shred of light in the shadowy void.

"_Welcome to my prison, Warrior of Light." _The Demon King's voice filled my mind. The form of the Demon King appeared before me.

"What have you done to me?" I demanded.

"_I have trapped your soul in the world I am lingering in now." _Fomortiis said. _"You are the reason I am unable to taste freedom, so I shall condemn you with me."_

"I don't think so." I snapped. "I'll just destroy you here and fulfill the prophecy either way."

"_If only you knew the truth."_ He sneered. _"You would regret ever coming to this world."_

I took out my Dragonstone and used to shape shift into dragon form. The only problem was I couldn't seem to transform. "W-what?" I stuttered as I stared at the stone. "Why won't it work?!"

"_This world reduces you to your true form."_ Fomortiis said with a dark snicker. _"You are a pathetic human. That is the body you are forced to wear."_

"I don't need to be a dragon in order to destroy you!" I roared. I dashed towards him and began hacking away at him with Garm. The weapon seemed to work fairly well against him and I was sure that victory was mine, but then the Demon King released an explosion of darkness that completely consumed me. I collapsed, feeling as if all my energy had been drained. "W-what happened?" I asked weakly.

"_I have also been placed in my true form."_ Fomortiis spoke. _"I am the essence of darkness. I am evil, hatred, sorrow, and fear. I am war. I am Death. I am the Demon King."_

"You will fail, Fomortiis!" A melodious voice echoed in the dark world. A portal of light opened up and began destroying the darkness. A silver dragon appeared from the light and flew above me and the Demon King.

"Cathriana!" I cried out as the silver dragon wrapped its snake-like body around Fomortiis.

"You dare to interfere yet again, Mother Gaia?" Fomortiis bellowed. "You are the reason that pathetic Kaede had to be chosen as my Bringer of Chaos. This is the last time you will thwart my plans!"

"I shall not allow you to prevail." Cathriana said. Her dragon body shone radiant silver and an explosion of light erupted from her. I was submerged in the warm luminosity, feeling some of my strength return to me.

I quickly awoke from the hold the Demon King had on me. Fomortiis was still gripping me in his hand, letting out a low growl as I stirred from my trance. I reached for the Dragonstone in my pocket, tapped into its power, and shape shifted to my dragon form. I broke free from Fomortiis's grasp and released a blast of light from my jaws. The Demon King's corpse staggered back a little.

Selena used her Excalibur spell while Neimi rained arrows down on the foe. The Excalibur attack did quite a bit of damage, but the arrows didn't even penetrate his skin. Joshua, Colm, and Rennac hacked away at Fomortiis, but only Joshua's Audhulma blade could lacerate its carcass. Zel and Cormag jabbed their lances into him, but only Cormag, who carried the Vidofnir lance, could land a decent hit.

"_Enough of this!"_ The Demon King's voice shouted through my brain. _"I will show no mercy. Watch as your comrades are torn apart by my Demon Light."_

The Demon King's body roared and a malefic flash of light consumed everyone within the barrier. When the light faded, I found my friends lying on the ground, weak and unable to continue battling. I had fallen as well, but I had enough strength to remain in dragon form and push myself up and face Fomortiis.

"_Well, aren't you the lucky one, Warrior of Salvation?"_ The Demon King asked me tauntingly. _"You managed to survive my attack. It's a shame we can't say the same about your little companions."_ He snickered.

My rage built up more when I could hear my friend's moans of agony. I glared at the monster before me.

"_Are you still trying to oppose me?" _He asked.

"I'll always oppose you." I snarled. "I have too much riding on this battle. If I fail, the world will be overtaken by your darkness."

"_This isn't your world. Why do you fight so hard for it?"_

"My friends and my loved ones are my world. Everyone here means more to me than anything else in this world or my world. They are the reason I keep fighting. Now, prepare to face oblivion, Fomortiis!"

I heard a voice echo through my mind, but this time it wasn't the Demon King's. _"Darian, you must take the rest of my power and finish him off." _Cathriana said. _"Release it all in one final burst!"_

My body began to glow from the new strength Cathriana was blessing me with. I concentrated all my power into one final strike. I released a beam of light, more devastating than any of my previous attacks before. The beam shot through the Demon King's chest, creating gaping hole. Fomortiis roared, but soon, his bellows died down and only a faint echo could be heard from the temple The Demon King's corpse stood there, looking as hallow as before. Everyone held their breaths as we watched the barrier disappear, and Fomortiis's body collapse to the ground and turn to dust.

* * *

**((There's still two more chapters to go. I'll be posting them both at the same time. The story is almost done.))**


	37. A New Dawn

**CHAPTER 37: A NEW DAWN**

"It's over." I said as I reverted back to my human form. "It's finally over." We could only stare at the dust pile remains of the once intimidating Demon King. It took a few minutes for everything to process, but when reality set in we knew without a doubt that Fomortiis had been destroyed. Then, the whole army erupted into cheers. All the hardships we had faced were now behind us. Evil had been vanquished once and for all.

We took our leave of the Dark Temple and saw that the darkness of night was being destroyed by day break. The rising sun filled the sky with a beautiful mixture of crimson and gold. Everyone stopped to gaze at the breathtaking horizon held before us. It was as if the Heavens were celebrating our victory as well.

I still couldn't believe it. It was finally over. Peace had returned. The chaos had ended. Now, it was time to look forward to an era of tranquility and prosperity. The world I had been summoned to was finally restored. I did it! I fulfilled my destiny.

"Darain! What's happening to you?!" Zel cried out. I looked at my hands and gasped as I saw that I was fading away, just as Kaede had done after the battle.

"You're...disappearing!" Cormag shouted.

"Guys..." I said softly. This was it. I was going home…

"Darian, wait!" Knoll cried out as he grabbed my wrist, but his hand went right through mine as if I was ghost. He was speechless and I could feel tears well up in my eyes. I had hoped this whole time that Knoll would be able to go back with me, but apparently, it wasn't meant to be.

"I'm sorry." I said, realizing that this was the moment I was dreading. I choked back tears, knowing that this was the last time I would ever see my friends from this world again. "I guess this is...good bye..."

"Darian, no!" Neimi said through a sob. "Please don't go!"

"You can't go!" Colm shouted, practically getting right up at my face. "You're my friend! I'm not about to watch you disappear like this!"

L'Arachel put a hand on Colm's shoulder and pulled him away. "She doesn't want this either." She said gently. "Yelling at her isn't going to do any good."

Cormag saluted me. "Darain." He said solemnly. "I'm sure going to miss you."

"Me too. Things just won't be the same without you." Selena wept. "I just want to thank you again for pointing me in the right direction."

Zel whipped another tear away. "Why does this have to happen now? And right when we're about to celebrate our victory…"

Rennac sniffled a little. "You still owe me that money, you know. And now you're leaving me alone to deal with L'Arachel? You jerk..."

Lute didn't say anything at first but I saw a tear stream down her face. "I'm not good at saying good-byes." She murmured quietly.

Ross was crying. "See ya...big sis."

Both Eirika and Ephraim approached me. "It was an honor having you fight with us." Ephraim said.

"Thank you, for all that you've done." Eirika added.

Joshua placed his hand on my fading shoulder. "I never thought I would be saying this to you, old friend, but good-bye…"

Natasha stepped forward. "You fought so bravely to protect us all. You really are a great friend." She sniffled. "Take care, Darian."

Neimi was balling at this point. "I don't want Darian to go!" She cried.

"See, look what you did!" Colm shouted. "You made Neimi cry. Now you have to stay."

"I wish I could." I sobbed. "But...I can't."

"You said that you would be the light that guided me." Knoll said, embracing me as best he could. "Without you, I'm just wondering in darkness. Darian..I...I love you."

"I love you too, Knoll." I said weakly. "Good bye...everyone." Then I vanished into the air. Disappearing forever.

* * *

I found myself floating in space. At least I think it was space. It was like a void of darkness. Then I saw from the blackness, the form of a giant silver dragon.

"Cathriana." I murmured.

"Well done, Darian." she said.

"Thanks." I replied.

"Is there something troubling you?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I'm just going to miss everyone. They were the best friends I've ever had."

"It is time for you to return home. Your task is complete."

"I know...but..."

She smiled kindly and said. "It's never easy to part ways from the ones you love."

"Yeah. You're right. I'm going to miss them. They're all a part of my life. My dear friends." I wept a little more. "Everyone...Knoll...I..."

* * *

Everyone was sitting around in a large circle. Colm was poking a rock with a stick. Neimi was crying, Joshua was flipping a coin in his hand, and Natasha sat their quietly beside him. Cormag gazed into the morning sky while Selena was leaning against him, staring into space. Zel was polishing his lance and armor. Lute was sitting next to him, pulling off the wings and legs of a bug. Knoll could only glance around at everyone and Rennac was lying on his stomach, almost asleep. "This sucks." The rogue finally muttered. Everyone nodded.

"I wish Darian was here." Neimi said.

"Stupid Darian!" Colm shouted. "What good's celebrating our victory when you're not here with us?! You're the reason we're still alive!"

"She couldn't help it, Colm." Selena said. "She was just as sad about having to leave too."

"Things are kind of boring without her around." Cormag noted. "There's no one to be our little wise cracker."

"Yeah…" Zel agreed solemnly. "Now who's going to massacre Baels for us?" He chuckled bitterly.

"I think I just killed this bug." Lute said.

"Good for you." Joshua said unenthusiastically.

"Darian..." Knoll said longingly. "I'm so lost without you. You were my world. My reason for living. Darian..."

Everyone let out heavy sighs.

"I'm gone for ten minutes and you guys act like it's the end of the world!" I said as I sat down between Knoll and Colm. My friends stared at me as if they had seen a ghost. "What?" I asked.

"Darain? Is that really you?" Selena cried out.

Colm grabbed my cheeks and pulled. "HEY!" I shouted. "That hurts! Knock it off!"

"You're really here! You're really, really here!" He said happily.

"But how?" Cormag asked.

"I had a little chat with Cathriana and she decided that it would be best for me to stay here with you guys." I explained.

"Does this mean-?" Neimi began.

"Yes, I'm here to stay. For good." I said with a big smile.

Knoll wrapped his arms around my neck. "I can't believe it." He said, unable to hold back his tears. "Darian...I thought I lost you."

"You know me better than that." I said, feeling tears of joy trickle down my cheeks as well.

"Promise me that you will never leave me again."

"I promise." Then I was tackle hugged by everyone else. Once everyone got a hug from me, I stood up and my team walked along with the rest of the army. There were happy cheers from everyone when they saw me return. It felt good to see everyone again. I knew then that this world was my real home. This was where I belonged.

"I can't wait to get home." Rennac shouted. "Carcino here I come."

Knoll suddenly turned to me and said, "Darian, neither of us have homes. Mine was destroyed and…the disaster…I don't know when that will occur."

Reality decided to hit us like a speeding semi truck. Knoll definitely didn't want to return to Grado, and I never even had a home here. "So…where are we going to live?" I asked somberly.

"With us." Colm said. "Why don't you two live in the same village as Neimi and me?"

Neimi smiled. "Yeah! Lute said that Kyle invited us to live in Renais's capital."

"That sounds nice." Knoll said. "Yes, I like that idea a lot."

"I'm afraid that isn't going to happen." Joshua smirked. "She's going to be working for Jehanna's military. We need a great soldier like her to lead the royal knights."

"That's right!" I said, realizing quickly that I did promise him I would become a general of his army if I was able to stay in that world. "We did have a deal."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Knoll asked.

"It slipped my mind."

"We just got out of war. Why would you want to join the knighthood?"

"Fighting's the one thing I'm good at." I explained. "I need to work hard and hone my skills, as well as pass them on to my future pupils."

He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Ah, whatever makes you happy."

"You just make sure to invite us to your wedding." Zel said as he put his hands on me and Knoll's shoulders.

Rennac then started nudging my ribs with his elbow. "Of course, that means you'll have to wear a dress."

"I'm sure she'll live." Cormag teased.

Selena chuckled. "If you would like, I'd gladly help you find a beautiful wedding gown to wear."

I looked at Knoll and blushed at the thought of getting married to him, but the idea made me excited and overjoyed. Knoll turned to me, took my hands into his, and asked, "Will you marry me, Darian?"

I nodded. "Yes. I'd love that."

Knoll wrapped his arm around me. He lifted my chin up and he pressed his lips against mine. Within only seconds we were less cautious and our kiss deepened and became more passionate. _I never thought I would ever know what love was like._ I thought to myself. _I'm glad I'm able to experience it._

As Knoll and I broke apart from our kiss, I heard Colm and Rennac holler with delight, making a few jokes about the wedding. Joshua pulled me into a noogie and Natasha scolded him for it. Zel, Neimi, and Ross's joyful laughter filled the air as they watched the scene. Cormag, Lute, and Selena congratulated the two of us, them being the only mature ones in the group.

While the others excitement began to die down, Knoll wrapped his arms around me once more. I returned the embrace and the two of us remained that way for some time. He ran his fingers through my hair and I buried my head into his chest. Love, friendships, a new home, and peace that was rightfully won. This was the greatest day of my life. As I pulled away from Knoll, the two of us shifted our gazes to the sky. The sun was rising higher now, a true sign of a bright future before us.

And that's how this Legacy of Chaos, came to its end.


	38. Epilog: Return To a New Tomorrow

**((This chapter is told in third person, not in Darian's perspective.))**

**EPILOG: RETURN TO A NEW TOMORROW**

When Kaede awoke, he was surrounded by a powerful radiant light. He basked in the warmth of the light feeling healed of all his wounds. For the first time in a long while, he was at peace.

From the intensive light, the figure of a silver dragon, with a long slender snake like body, appeared before him. "Kaede..." It said in the most melodious voice he had ever heard. "How are you faring?"

"Who are you?" Kaede asked nervously.

"I am Cathriana." The dragon's voice replied with gentle tenderness. "I am the one who summoned the Warrior of Light."

Kaede bowed his head and said shamefully. He muttered, "I...Please forgive me..."

"You are not the one who should be begging for forgiveness. I am the one who asks for yours."

He was taken aback. Why would a great deity ask for his forgiveness, especially one that was supposed to be his enemy? "Why? I was the one who was destined to end the world. I was the one fate chose as the Bringer of Chaos."

"There is no such thing as fate and no one has a predetermined destiny." Cathriana replied sourly, as if simply speaking the words 'fate' and 'destiny' were nothing but an ill burden. "Fate, by human terms, is nothing more than the supposed "plans" we deities create. We have no plans."

"I don't understand." Kaede admitted.

"I did not plan for you to be Bringer of Chaos no more than I wanted Darian as the Warrior of Light. Every human being is in control of their own destiny, a word that is mistaken as a life guided by the divine."

"Are you telling me Darian and I were not 'destined' to be the Warrior of Light, and the Bringer of Chaos? You didn't select us at the beginning of our lives and decide that was the path we would take? And please, tell me why you were trying to apologize to me."

"I'm sorry for what had happened to you." She said. "I could not prevent the Demon King from taking you. I should have done my best, but I only saved one life the day you were selected."

"Then, that means..."

"You do not have to continue living your life believing you are a monster. You were never meant to be the Bringer of Chaos. Return to your era and live in peace."

"My era?"

"You're home, child. You can go home now."

The light began to fade and he found himself in the busy streets of a city. His home. People walked by him as they went about there normal lives. A few people bumped into him while they talked on their cell phones. He took in the sights around him in disbelief. _It can't be! _He dashed along the side walk, pushing aside anyone who got in his way. He made his way to an empty ally way and fell to his knees. "My world, and the other world...They're the same? I was spirited away to the past?"

"That is correct." Cathriana replied. Her enormous body hovered above the city, but only Kaede was able to see her. "Welcome home."

Kaede's gaze shifted to the ground and he began to sob. "It doesn't matter if I go back now. I can never be whole again. Not without Echo..."

"You must not dwell on the harsh times. Remember only the pleasant ones." Cathriana said.

"I can't look back on those without remembering all the horrible things I had done." He choked back tears. "Why did the Demon King chose me to be the Bringer of Chaos?"

"Because I stopped him from getting his first choice." Cathriana said. Kaede pushed himself up and turned to her once more. "What do you mean?"

Cathriana chuckled, but sorrow traced through the laughter. "Care to know a secret, Kaede?"

"A secret?"

She nodded. "One that I wouldn't reveal to anyone before. Darian was not the one who was originally chosen as the Warrior of Light."

"She wasn't?"

"No..." She said somberly. "The Demon King wished to summon a being from the future and have that being restore him to power. I knew of his intentions and I waited to see whom he would choose. I was shocked when I saw him reach for one particular child, whom had a great amount of darkness built up within their heart.

I knew I couldn't allow him to select this child as his warrior. In order to prevent Fomortiis from obtaining his first choice, I had to shield the one he was after with my own power. In doing so, that person became my Warrior of Salvation. Darian was originally...going to be summoned by the Demon King to be his Bringer of Chaos."

Kaede shook his head. He couldn't believe it. She was supposed to be the one to end the world? "But how? Why?" He asked.

"It is as I said; Darian had much darkness built up in her heart. If you were to know her from this world, you would realize she was completely different person. The Demon King saw her hate and despair and chose her to be the Bringer of Chaos. I managed to ward him off before he could select her, for if she were to be the End Bringer..."

"What would happen?"

"Darian's darkness would crush this world. Kaede, you were by far more pure of heart than she. You were the perfect candidate to be corrupted. I couldn't defend you, for I protected Darian in order to save this world. For that, I am terribly sorry."

Kaede felt bad for it, but he was quiet happy to hear this. He wasn't the first candidate to be Fomortiis's chosen one. But to think that Darian was supposed to be… That was hard to believe. "Why would you want someone like that to be the Warrior of Salvation?" He asked.

"By wiping her memories, she would become someone else entirely. Her past was forgotten, thus she had no reason to hate. There was one other reason that both the Demon King and I targeted her. She had an ability that few humans her age have; to be able to kill and feel no remorse."

Kaede cringed. He had seen her in battle before and seen how she could tear her opponents apart and not seem to care at all. But he wouldn't have guessed that she didn't care about taking a life. "How could she be able to do that? I went to bed every night feeling awful about killing someone."

"It is as I said before. Her darkness is powerful, so powerful to where she had no longer cared about the lives of others. Most humans didn't matter to her... Luckily, she managed to keep that ability even after removing her memories. It is a horrible reason, but that is another reason I wished to have her as my warrior. The last person I had sent to the past didn't have that ability and it took him a while to adjust to it."

"Me and Darian weren't the only ones you sent to the past?"

"I sent one other person into another era. That human played an important part in changing the coarse of history. Had he and his comrades not succeeded, we would be living in a different world entirely. He returned to the present when his task was complete, just as you did. Although, it will soon be for nothing..."

"Why is that, Cathriana?" Kaede asked. A few people gave him odd glances as they passed by him. They would turn to see what he was talking to, but they couldn't see the radiant dragon in the sky. Kaede hadn't even noticed the odd looks he was receiving.

"A darkness is growing in the present time." She explained. "This very instant, the past is being rediscovered and soon, an ancient evil will be free to walk the earth."

"Fomortiis?"

"He and many others. Monsters, dragons, and more."

Kaede reached into his pocket and found his Dragonstone. It was nearly identical to Darian's but his was a transparent black color with a red cross in the center. He held it tightly in his hand. "As long as I wield a sword and take dragon form, I will do everything in my power to prevent this darkness from spreading."

Cathriana smiled and her massive body began to disappear into the heavens. "You will not be alone." Her voice echoed through Kaede's mind. "Heroes of the past and present shall come together to defeat this growing evil."

Kaede stood there for a few minutes. His memories flooded back into him and he could recall the life he had in both the present world and the past world. He glanced at the Dragonstone in his hand then to the spot in the sky Cathriana had been.

_I will repent for the sins I committed in the past by fighting for the future._ He thought to himself as he began the walk back to his home, an apartment building in within the capital of Frelia.

_Echo..._ He remembered the one person he had ever truly loved. The little Sage girl, Echo. _For you, I shall live every day with the memories of you. I can never love another the way I loved you, but I have a feeling you are still watching over me from a better place. We'll meet again, I know it._

_Wait for me, my love._

**THE END**

* * *

(( God! Can you believe it? I actually finished this story. It's been a long journey, but Legacy of Chaos has finally come to it's end. I'm going to go celebrate now. Until reality hits me that I still have a sequel to write. As I'm sure you can guess from the epilog, there is going to be a sequel. One that combines FE 7, 8, 9/10. Hope to see you soon in _Generation of Unity_.))


	39. Legend of Night: Chapter 1

((Author's note: You're probably wondering; "Why's the author updating in a story that is already complete?" It's true, Legacy of Chaos has ended, but Darian's story wasn't the only tale to be told. Have you ever wondered how Kaede came to be? Have you ever wondered what he was like before he became the Bringer of Chaos? What through him over the edge?

Do you want to know what happened to him?

Saddly, it isn't going to be told. Not all of it at least. I sort of gave up after three chapters of Kaede's story, but I'm going to go ahead and post them up. This should hold you over until I finish the initial planning of the sequel. So in the mean time, I hope you enjoy the first and only three chapters of Legend of Night. I'll post chapters two and three up later. I'm feeling sort of lazy right now. And who knows? If these chapters get good enough reception, I might finish the story…*hint hint wink wink*

btw, I'm updating most of the story and will be posting up revised versions of each chapter. Don't worry, the content won't be altered to the point to where the story changes, just so that way it's written better.))

* * *

_**The Darkness of a cave,  
**__**Lit only by the golden glow of a torch  
**__**The existence of humanity,  
**__**Is not so different from the fire in the shadows.  
**__**The light is always repelling the darkness  
**__**And the darkness is always surrounding the light.  
**__**Both elements are continuously trying to consume the other  
**__**As long as humans continue to thrive  
**__**The war between light and darkness… justice and evil  
**__**Will forever be, eternal and never ending.**_

**CHAPTER ONE: A SINNER'S TALE**

My name is Kaede. My story is a dark tale that pains me to look back upon. So much has happened to me, and yet, I feel that I have gained little from the experiences I've encountered.

This story takes place in the continent of Magvel. I may have seemed like any other person who wandered that land, but I was very different from the other inhabitants. I was from another world. If I were to tell someone from this world I would be scoffed at, no doubt about that. But it was the truth. At the time, I didn't know why I was brought to that world, and to make matters worse, I had lost a vast majority of my memories when I first arrived in that land. I only knew I was not of that planet from the few recollections I had. Sadly, not one of those memories included any friends or loved ones. They were simply a few remembrances of what my world was like. I could remember a few things of technology, such as cars, airplanes, and other such advances, but people's faces were scarce.

Looking back on the few months I lived there, with no knowledge of the dark destiny the gods had chosen for me, I can't say that I would have been able to accept the truth for my being in Magvel. I would have battled the divine beings of the heavens to stay the man I once was. But that was long ago. That was before betrayal, and a loved one's death had befallen me and threw my being into chaos.

I can recall my first dwindling experiences in this realm. I had traveled for three days upon waking up in this strange and foreign land. I was famished, lacking water, and other needed items to survive. I sought help, but it took days before I reached a town. By the time I did, I was on the verge of death, or so it felt that way to me. After all, I lacked the survival skills needed to thrive in the wilds.

My energy was drained, and my body fatigued. I collapsed in the streets of the small town. Pedestrians stop to stare at me, while a few kind hearts bothered to kneel beside me and help. It did little good though. My vision began to fade and my mind slipped from consciousness.

It must have been hours later when I finally awoke. When I did, I found myself lying in a bed within what looked like a small bed room. Sitting in a stool beside me was a young boy, no older than eight or so. He was staring at me with much curiosity. As I sat up, the little boy began shouting, "Mama! Mama! He's awake."

Upon hearing her child's cry, the mother, a middle age woman wearing a simple yellow dress with a white apron, carried in a cold glass filled with crystal clear water. "Are you feeling all right?" She asked gently as she handed me the glass.

I didn't give a very quick response as I greedily drank the water. My dried throat stung from the cool sensation of the liquid but it was soon replaced with a refreshing feeling. "Thank you." I said after my thirst was quenched. "I'm sorry I troubled you."

"You weren't any trouble." She said. "You've been sleeping most of the day. I'm Marein, and this is my youngest son, Len."

The little boy, Len, continued to stare at me with his wide eyes. "What's your name, mister?" He asked me.

"My name?" I had to rack my brain to remember what it was. Luckily, my memory came through for me and I answered, "My name's Kaede."

"How old are you mister?" Len asked.

"Seventeen, why?"

"Cause your gray hair makes you look like an old guy."

I ran my hand through my hair. It came past my shoulders and was a mess from not being tended to in the past couple of days. "It's silver, not gray." I corrected.

"It still makes you look old." Len argued. I sighed, knowing full well that I wasn't going to win a fight with an eight year old. Instead, I glanced around the room and found that it was quite tidy and well kept. The only real furniture in the room was the bed and a wardrobe. There was a small table next to the bed that had a candle and a book on it.

The thing that caught my eye was the lance that sat against the wall far opposite from the room. I couldn't help but ask Marein, "Whose room does this belong to?"

"This is my oldest son's room." She replied. "His name is Zel. He went to go run some errands for me."

"How old is he?" I asked.

"Fourteen." She replied. I think she caught me glancing back over to the lance. "He doesn't use that." She explained. "It belonged to his father. He keeps it in his room as a reminder of him."

Just then, we heard the door open and someone yell, "I'm back." The footsteps moved from the door and towards the room we were in.

A kid, who looked to be only a few years younger than me, walked into the room. He had short green spiky hair and was a few inches shorter than me. He saw me sitting up in the bed and he said, "Oh, you're awake, huh?" He strode over to the bed and shook my hand. "The name's Zel. And you are?"

"His name is Kaede." Len answered for me. "And he's over a hundred and seventeen years old."

Zel turned to me and said in the most sincere of tones, "Seriously?"

"No!" I shouted. "I'm only seventeen. You little brother says I look old because of my hair color."

Zel shrugged. "Well, it's not every day that you meet someone your age with gray hair."

"It's SILVER!!" I roared. Marein just laughed a little.

Later that night, Marein offered me dinner and I gratefully accepted. During the meal, I explained to them I had amnesia and I really didn't know what I was going to do. I asked her for some advice as to a town, or anywhere that could help me.

"Why don't you just stay with us?" She said. I was taken aback.

"I couldn't." I argued. "I've been enough of a burden to you as it."

"You're not bothering us. Zel and Len have taken quite a liking to you any way. If you don't want to stay, you don't have to. I'm just offering you a possible home."

So it was decided and I stayed with this family for some time. Marein had taken me in, and in a sense, adopted me into the family. But, even though I was now a part of their home, I reframed from ever speaking to them about me being from another world. I had high doubts that they would have believed me, even if I did tell them. I played along, as if I simply had amnesia. It was the best disguise to keep myself safe, for who knows what sort of unknown dangers I could put myself in if too many people knew of me and how different I was from their society.

For nearly three weeks, I lived in this small town. Zel and Len took me into the village and showed me around. The town's name was Hilat. It was very small compared to most of the other towns nearby. I didn't mind the uneventful feel. It was relaxing and I knew when I walked around that I could get used to living in a quiet place like Hilat.

It was even more comforting to feel accepted by the family I was living with. Marein treated me like I was one of her own children and would sometimes even refer to me as one. I felt accepted. It would be one of the last times I would be.

Most people of the town they dwelled in came to accept me too. I was able to blend in with them in no time at all. As I stayed with the family, Zel and I became good friends, and Len had become like a little brother to me, even though he would never let up about my odd hair color. It ceased to bother me as time went on.

Then, something happened; something that changed my quiet life within this town completely. It started out like any other day the past month had, but by mid afternoon, news reached that the kingdom we lived in had invaded another neighboring kingdom. A kingdom called Renais. This was where pretending to have amnesia came in handy. Zel's mother explained that we lived in the Grado Empire and the neighboring kindom, Renais, has always had good relations with them. She and the rest of the town seemed quite surprised by the sudden attack.

The rest of the day carried on as usual, but there was a solemn feel that lingered over everyone. I tried to think nothing of it. After all, this wasn't my world. I had nothing to do with anything that happened in it. It wouldn't be until months later that I would realize how terribly wrong I was.

That night, I was awoken by Zel. He was dressed and was holding his father's lance. I was a tad bit frightened to be awoken by someone holding a sharp weapon, but then he said with determination, "I'm going to join the military."

"What are you blabbering on about?" I asked him. "Come to your senses and go back to sleep."

"I want to do what I can for this country and help it in any way possible." He said. "I believe that becoming a soldier is what I should do."

I remember thinking to myself, _a soldier? Yes, go on and throw your life away. That's all you're going to do if you sign up._ I tried to convince him otherwise. He was only fourteen, a child. He had a future ahead of him. No matter how much I tried to talk him out of it, he wouldn't be persuaded.

That's when he said to me, "You should sign up with me."

I was speechless. Why in God's name would I want to be involved in the affairs of a political battle? Why would I want to burden myself with the troubles of a world I did not belong to?

"Why should I become a soldier?" I asked him.

"Why wouldn't you?" He asked. "Don't you want to fight for the people of Grado? What about this town and everyone in it?"

I still felt that it wasn't my problem, and I was about to refuse, but then I put to thought what he had said to me. I did know these people. The people of the town had been so kind to me and treated me as if I was one of them. Surely if they knew the truth about me, they wouldn't, but…

"What about my mother?" Zel went on. "What about Len? Don't you want to fight to keep them alive?"

I sighed. They were my family now, too. I felt so close to them and I knew I couldn't let them down. Then I had thought about Zel signing up alone and being killed on the battlefield. That one thought was the last bit of motivation I needed to make my decision.

"All right," I said. "I'm not sure what's gotten into you, but you've convinced me."

He smiled and said, "Ok, let's get going," He was headed for the door when I asked, "Does Marein know we're leaving?"

He stopped in mid stride and shook his head. "No." He replied. "And she isn't going to know until the morning, when we're gone."

"You didn't even bother to tell her good bye?"

"If she knew then she wouldn't let me go. I left a note on my bed explaining everything."

"Why do you want to go?" I asked him. "I know you say you want to do the right thing, but surely there's more to it than just that."

He didn't reply. He was about to leave the house when I said, "Is it because of your father?"

It took him a few minutes, but Zel finally answered me. "My father died while serving this country." He explained. "I want to be a soldier like he was."

It was obvious that that was his main motivation. I'm sure he wanted to help others and do what he could for his kingdom. But in the eyes of a young boy, the only motive he needs is the thought of following his father's footsteps. That was what Zel was going to do and I was being brought into it.

Zel threw open the door and went into the town. I followed behind him, lost in thought. A part of me was saying that I was doing the right thing by watching over my younger friend, but another part of me was saying I was being stupid. I knew the dangers of war. I knew that I would most likely not survive in combat. I did all I could to push the thoughts aside. I refused to submit to my fears and doubts. I wouldn't back away and abandon my friend.

Now that I look back on it now, those memories seem as if they are not my own. I ponder to myself, _why would I go out of my way to help others all for nothing? _It must have been the person I was back then. To me, protecting this town and the family that adopted me was all that mattered to me.

It's funny how a person can change so quickly.


	40. Legend of Night: Chapter 2

_**War and Fire**_

_**Destruction and Destroyer**_

_**We fight to stop those who wish to Obliterate us**_

_**We Annihilate them in Retaliation**_

_**What a backward logic**_

**CHAPTER TWO: JOINING THE MILITARY**

It had taken most of the night and a good portion of the following day before we finally reached the capital. Grado Keep, home of the royal family, was more massive than I had imagined. Then again, from where I came from, people didn't usually live in castles. Such buildings made popular tourist sites, and were rare. Still, the building before me towered over most of the neighboring houses that surrounded it. It was there, at the castle, that we would sign up to join the Grado military.

I remember standing before the gates of Grado Keep. There were soldiers sitting at a long white table. A long scroll was spread along the surface and the soldiers took the names of the people signing up as recruits.

Zel was looking eager and anxious. He still maintained much of his childhood innocence in the aspect that he believed he was too young to die. In his mind, I'm sure he felt he was invincible, untouchable, as if the gods were looking out for him, and him alone.

I felt very different about this matter. My hands were trembling uncontrollably as I realized what I was about to do. _I'm going to die!_ My mind cried out. _If I join the military, then I'm going to be killed on the battlefield. I don't know how to fight. What was I thinking?!_

"Kaede? " Zel asked as he tapped my shoulder. I jumped, startled as he pulled me from my thoughts.

"Are you ok?" Zel asked. "Your hand is shaky."

I shoved my hands into my red jacket's pockets to hide my obvious fear from Zel. "I'm fine." I said as I tried to swallow my anxiety.

"Great, then let's go sign up." He ran up to the gates to where the soldiers at the table were taking names. After the both of us were registered as soldiers, we were lead to the training camp. It was in the forest some ways from Grado Keep. It wasn't hard to find and there were already a large group of people gathered there. Each one talked about finding glory on the battlefield and bringing home fascinating stories to share with their spouses and children.

Such idiocy. Each and every one of those fools would never want to reflect on the horrors they would soon witness. Not one of them had ever taken a human life and had no real idea how to do it. Like Zel, they all believed that **they** would make it through the war. Many of the cocky ones that talked about how powerful they were I would later watch those arrogant individuals be slaughtered by the enemy's blades.

For nearly a month we would be trained with a weapon of some kind. Zel was thrown in armor and given a lance. I was handed a sword and nothing else. The training we went through was rigorous and difficult. I can recall going to bed each and every night sore and utterly exhausted.

During the first few days, during my free time, I would walk about the camp. Zel was my only friend at the time. I didn't really make too many good acquaintances nor did I attempt to. I didn't want to form too close of relationships with any of the other soldiers. That was the first rule of war. In war, friends die. But if you don't have many of them, then you don't have to worry about losing anyone close.

Sadly, my plans were destined to fail. I had been strolling through the camp when I had come across a young girl. She had short purple hair, wore blue robes, and held a red book under her arm. She was nearly a foot shorter than me, so I guessed she may have been younger as well. Now, you have to understand that where I'm from, its quiet unusual to find a little girl wondering about a military camp. Especially when they are unarmored and unarmed. I approached her and asked, "Are you lost, miss?"

She gave me an odd look. "What?" She asked as she tilted her head.

"This is a military camp." I explained. "This isn't the place for young girls to be prancing about in."

She scrunched up her nose as she gave me a glare that told me that she was becoming infuriated. "Excuse me?" She sneered. "I'm a warrior of this army."

I laughed. I didn't believe her. She seemed to young and petite to be put into battle. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she turned and stomped away.

Zel came by around that time and watched the girl walk away. "What's up, Kaede?" He asked. "Why does Echo seem so angry?"

"You know her?" I asked.

"Of course. You should too."

"I should?"

"Yeah!" He shouted in disbelief. "She's the colonel of this army!"

My jaw dropped. That's when I knew I was in deep trouble. "B-but how? She looks like she's just a kid."

Zel nodded. "But don't let her appearance fool you. She's the best magic user in this whole camp."

I was in trouble. I was in really, really big trouble.

* * *

Later that night I was sitting with a group of soldiers Zel had come to be friends with. We were eating dinner that night, simply minding our own business when Echo had come over to our group. She was carrying her red book in one hand, and a staff in the other. She motioned for me to follow her. I knew I was in hot water for insulting a colonel, so I made no attempt to question her.

"Grab your sword." She said as she pointed to the blade that had been sitting beside me. I did so and proceeded with her.

Echo led me out of the camp and deep into the forest. The training camp and the fires lit by the other soldiers were now a dim glow against the darkness of the woods. We traveled for quiet some ways in complete silence. "Where are we going?" I finally asked after gaining some courage to speak to her.

She stopped and turned to me. Even in the shadows of night, I could easily tell that her expression was that of sheer anger. She took a few steps closer to me, and instinctively, I took that many backwards.

"Do you know who I am, Kaede?" Echo asked angrily.

I nodded. "You're a high ranking officer of this army." I replied.

She opened her red book and began chanting something in another language. I was dumbfounded as to what I should have done. Run? Simply stand there and wait for her to finish speaking?

My body picked the second one; stand still. I'm not entirely sure if it was from fear of what was possibly going to happen, or if it was from curiosity. When she had finished chanting, small orbs of light began to flutter in the air around us. It was as if the stars had descended from the night's sky and were dancing near us. It was a beautiful sight.

"What is this?" I asked in awe.

"Magic." She replied. Her voice held no hostility. "Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." I reached for one of the glowing orbs, only to watch it disappear before my fingers could grasp it.

"Magic is a powerful weapon." Echo said. "It is mightier than any sword, spear, or axe. No kind of armor can protect you from the sheer strength of a magic blast. It is because of my abilities in magic that have allowed me to work my way up to being a general at such a young age."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Eighteen." she replied.

She was a year older than me. She was so small compared to me that I assumed she was younger.

Echo began to read the contents of her book once more and a pillar of fire burst forth from the earth only a foot away from where I was standing. I could feel the intense heat against my face and I nearly collapsed from the shock of how close it had been.

"This is called 'Elfire'." she replied. "It's a very powerful magic attack. You and I shall spar now."

"I-I don't think that would be a good idea." I stuttered nervously. I tried backing away but with each step I took, she took one towards me.

"Are you getting cocky again?" She asked with a dark smirk.

"No. You could kick my ass." I said. "I don't question your strength anymore, Echo. That's exactly why I won't fight you."

"It's a little too late for that, now. Prepare yourself." The pillar a flames arose once more and this time, it didn't miss. My arm was caught in the fire and was badly burned. I fell to my knees, roaring as the horrendous pain shot through me. I examined the burn and nearly vomited from the sight. My whole arm had turned a charcoal black. Steam flared from it and I could hear faint sizzling sounds from the flesh.

I tried to cradle my arm, but simply touching it caused a horrible throbbing sensation. It hurt more than anything I had ever felt before.

Echo walked over to me. The staff she had brought with her was what she held in her hands now. "Hold your arm out." She ordered.

"No!" I bellowed. "I don't trust you."

"Do you want the pain to go away?"

"I would rather be dead right now."

Echo grabbed my arm, causing me to yelp from the burn. She held the staff before my smoldered arm. She chanted something once again, which caused the staff to glow. Then my arm began to glow as well. The burns on my arm slowly began to fade and so did the pain. Within just a few tender seconds, my arm had returned to normal, as if she had never used the Elfire on me before.

I was lost for words. I wanted to thank her for healing me, but I remembered she was the cause for the burn in the first place.

"Kaede." She said sternly. "Never question my authority again. I'm more powerful than you will ever hope to be."

"Yes ma'am." I replied in a faint, sour tone. If I had succumbed to my foolish pride, I wouldn't have bothered to say anything at all, but I feared being attacked by her magic again. She stood back up and began to head back to the camp. I followed her, not saying a word.

_**

* * *

**_

_**((Author's Note: It's hard to believe that Kaede and Echo fall in love, eh? Nothing says "I love you" more than setting your significant other's on fire. I'm kidding of course!))**_


	41. Legend of Night: Chapter 3

_**To the ones who have gone before me,**_

_**I'm sorry,**_

_**For the ones I was unable to protect,**_

_**Forgive me,**_

_**And all those lives I will never save,**_

_**You will never know the guilt I will forever bear**_

**CHAPTER 3: DESERTION AND PUNISHMENT**

It was within the second week of our training when the most painful event Zel and I would ever endure together had begun. I was still angry with Echo for her "lesson" a week before. I avoided her as much as I humanly could and she didn't bother to seek me out either. I thanked the gods for this.

The training days had grown more intensive and every day my arms would cramp from wielding my sword. It had come to the point when I glanced at my blade I would scorn it's mere existence. I wasn't the only one who was losing spirits over time. Zel's seemingly endless enthusiasm was beginning to wear thin.

One evening, when our training for the day was complete, Zel and I retired to the camp. We were both leaning against a log that most soldiers used to sit on when they were around the camp fire, but we were exhausted and didn't care. Two soldiers came by and sat down on the other side of us. They were both speaking fairly loudly and we could hear them perfectly.

"Did you hear the latest rumor?" the first soldier asked. The second shook his head.

"They say a village fairly close to us was raided by bandits."

"Is that so?" The second said, but he seemed to have very little care in his voice.

"Yeah, all this chaos tends to rally up those renegades. Renais is in worse shape, or so the rumors go. We have a few raids in Grado here and there, but nothing too severe."

"What was the name of the village?" Zel asked.

The soldier held his head back as he tried to remember the name. "Oh, what was it now? Hilat…yeah it was Hilat. That little town out in the country side. I hear there's almost nothing left of it now."

My heart sank into my stomach and I saw that Zel's face had gone pale. "Mother…Len…" Zel whimpered to himself.

"What's the matter, lad?" the soldier who relayed the message asked. He was smiling broadly, unaware of the truth. He sat there as if the news was the funniest thing he had heard, which angered me to no end. "It's not like anyone cares about a little place like that."

"Shut up, low life." I shouted as I pushed myself to my feet and kicked the other soldier in the gut. He let out a yelp, called me several swear words and threatened to kill me.

"You'll be killed on the battlefield before I am." I retorted. "You'll already be dead before you get a chance at me."

"Stop it!" Zel cried out. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "We have to go now! We have to make sure mother and Len are all right!"

"We have to clear it with the general first." I said.

That was the first mistake we had made; trying to tell the general of our camp that we had to leave. Let me explain something about Grado's generals. There are six of them in all. A few are usually put in charge to help train us, sometimes alternating to fulfill royal duties and such. I had been told that three of them were known for their honor and care towards their countrymen, but the other three were complete opposites.

We were unfortunate enough to have Valter, one of the more ruthless generals be in charge of our training camp. We may as well have asked a hungry grizzly bear to spare us from being devoured by it.

Still, we tried it anyway. We had gotten permission to speak to the general, explaining to the soldier standing guard outside Valter's tent that our meeting with him was urgent. The soldier stepped aside and allowed us to enter, glaring at us as we did.

Valter was cleaning his lance when he saw us standing. "What do you want?" He demanded.

"We need to leave the camp for a little while." Zel explained. "My village was attacked by bandits and I need to go back to check on my family."

Valter stared us down. His mouth twisted into a menacing grin and he began to cackle with delight, as if what we asked was some sort of joke.

"Permission denied." He said when his laughter trailed off.

"Please!" Zel begged. "My mother and little brother live there. They're the only family I have."

The general's evil grin widened. I could tell he wasn't going to let us go. He didn't care. As a matter of fact, he took delight at watching Zel plead. It was humorous to him. I tucked my fingers into a tight fist, holding back the strong desire to punch him in the mouth. That would have whipped that horrible smile off his face.

"Get on your hands and knees and beg." The general said. "Beg like the worthless dog you are."

Zel, without a moment of hesitation, fell to the ground. "Please let me go." He said.

_No,_ I thought to myself. _Don't give this bastard what he wants!_

Valter began laughing again, even harder than before. "You're pathetic!" He shrieked as he kicked Zel in the ribcage. Zel yelped and fell over to his side. "Did you honestly think that I would give you permission to leave?"

"What gives you the right?!" I demanded. "He's just a kid! We'll leave to find our family whether you give me permission or not!"

"Oh, you can leave." Valter said. "You'll be considered deserters. You'll be hunted down as traitors and if for some reason you return, you'll be punished severely."

"The small price to pay." I retorted as I helped Zel back onto his feet. I pulled him out of the tent and the two of us fled from the training camp. We traveled for a few hours until it was late in the evening. We moved as quickly as we could, the fear of the worst possible scenarios filled our minds and forced us to keep running.

***

We reached Hilat… Yes, and we almost wished we hadn't. The rumor was true, everything had been destroyed. Houses were burned to the ground, blood stained the ground, and bodies were sprawled out on the streets, each one killed on the spot by the bandits. Crows and other small scavengers were feasting on the bodies, abandoning their meal only when Zel and I came near them. The smell of decaying flesh filled the air with a demonic perfume. It was a stench that could make even the most hardened stomachs lose their lunch. I felt sick from seeing the massacred people whom I once knew, but the worst was yet to come.

I continued through the town until I found our old house. It was half burned down and was slowly crumbling away. Lying out on the lawn of our home were two bodies. One was Marein and the other was Len. The mother's body was thrown over her youngest child, as if to protect him from his inevitable fate. Both had deep wounds embedded into them, several more pierced through Marein's. Zel knelt down beside them. He was unable to form words as he stared hard at the corpses before him. Unable to bear the truth.

Then came a weak cough from one of the bodies. It was Len. He moaned a little and Zel quickly scooped his little brother up in his arms.

"Len! I'm so sorry!" Zel sobbed, holding his brother tightly against him. "I wasn't here in time… I should never have left home!"

Len coughed a little more, a terrible gash was spread across his stomach and he had been lying in a pool of his and his mother's blood. I tried to check to see if Marein was possibly alive as well, but my adopted mother had already passed on.

I turned to see Zel crying uncontrollably. Len stopped coughing long enough to shift his head slowly towards Zel. "…I'm dying…aren't I…?" He asked through a raspy voice.

Now I had begun to shed tears. How do you tell a child that he's dying? How can anyone muster up the courage to explain to an eight-year-old that they have only moments left to live? I couldn't. Zel couldn't. I don't think anyone could have. The shock had finally passed over and realization had kicked in; Zel and I were orphans.

Len's breathing began to slow, his grip on his older brother's hand was loosening and I could see the life beginning to leave his eyes. He took in his last breath and his body went limp. Zel wept harder now that his brother was no longer in this world with us. I, too, cried until there were no more tears left in me. The only family I had ever had in this world was dead.

I made a silent prayer to an unknown god, to Marein, and to Len. Asking each one to forgive me for not being able to do anything about this mass slaughter. I swore I would look after Zel. I swore that I would protect the last member of my family I still had. As Zel and I continued to stare helplessly at the ruin before us, the skies opened up and released rain, a down pour. It was as if the heavens were weeping for the lost souls alongside us.

I was beginning to grow cold from the rain. I took Zel's shoulder and lead him away from the wreckage of the town we once had called home. I could no longer stand to look at it and I knew Zel shouldn't gaze at it either. The poor kid had become so quiet and distant as we headed back in the direction of the training camp.

***

Our return to the camp was far from pleasant. We had gotten back the following day. The rain still kept pouring which did nothing for our already spoiled mood. The moment we entered the camp, we were seized by two other soldiers, both of which Zel had called friends. They took us by the arms and pulled us over to the middle of the camp. They held us there for some time. They didn't release their grips on us until another soldier who was accompanied by General Valter had joined us.

Valter walked over to us with a sick, twisted smile upon his lips. "Well, well, well. The deserters return at last." He grabbed Zel by the shirt collar and pulled him closer. "What did I say, boy? I said you could leave, and you would be punished for it." He threw him back to the ground, but Zel made little attempt to stand again.

By this time, the whole camp had come to see what the commotion was. They watched, but not one of them dared come to our aide. I sought out anyone with hopeful eyes, but there were no responses. Then my gaze fell on Echo. We met eyes and she must have sensed my mental pleads, for she moved closer to us, but didn't leave the circle of onlookers.

"Fifteen lashes for desertion." Valter said with a cackle.

"Wait!" I cried out. "Punish me, but don't hurt Zel. His family…everyone in his family is dead and his home is destroyed! He's been through enough. Don't put him through any more pain!"

Valter only laughed, sinisterly and wickedly. "I'll double your amount if you keep talking, but you both will be punished for desertion."

"Then double my amount!" I shouted. "Triple it if you wish it, just don't hurt Zel!"

Echo pushed her way through the other speculators and dashed over to the general. "Listen to him!" She said. "They younger boy has already seen enough."

Valter backhanded Echo across the face, knocking her to the ground. "Don't ever challenge my authority, you little wench. Unless you want to share the same punishment as them."

I couldn't believe this was happening. I looked over at Zel. He was staring at the ground with all lost hope. The two soldiers from before seized us once more and lead us over to a broken down wooden fence. Our hands were tied to the bars of the fence to keep us in place, and our shirts were torn from us. I looked over to Zel and whispered solemnly, "I'm sorry."

Valter, with a whip in hand, approached us slowly. I could hear his footsteps against the muddy ground. He stopped a few feet away from us. He raised the whip up and cracked it against our backs.

Zel let out a whimper but I held back any noise. The sting was horrifying and unbearable. I could feel the blood trickle down my back from the gashes the whip created. The second one came with even more force; the sound of the whip cracking against our flesh could be heard from the other side of the camp.

The third slash caused a cry to escape Zel. That hurt me more than the cuts on my back did. It wasn't fair that he had to go through this after having to see his mother dead and watch his brother die.

"This isn't right!" I howled. "Please, stop hurting him!" I was answered with another crack of the whip against my bleeding back. They refused to listen no matter how much I pleaded. I finally gave up.

I continued to hold in my cries. I didn't want to give that bastard, Valter, the satisfaction he wanted. I bit my tongue after the ninth, but I finally couldn't suppress a moan. Upon hearing me, Valter laughed wickedly, whipping me harder.

We were forced to endure those fifteen grueling lashes. Once the final strike was made against us, and our punishment rightfully served, we were untied from the fence. We both fell to our knees, taking in raspy breaths. The rain's cold water helped numb the pain but only a little, not enough to do any good.

"Let these two be an example to the rest of you pawns." Valter said to all the soldiers of the camp. He laughed menacingly as he headed back to his own tent. The other soldiers began to disperse as well. All except for one. A small and gentle hand rested easily on my arm. Echo had knelt down beside Zel and I and helped us both to our feet. She led us to her own tent and motioned for us to lay face down on the ground. We did so and Echo took out her healing staff and began to heal our wounds. First Zel, and then me. I could feel the soothing light began to mend my injuries and restore my shattered energy.

"Thank you, Echo." I said.

Zel said nothing as he curled into a tight ball and shut his eyes, as if he were about to fall asleep. I knew just how exhausted he was, both physically and mentally.

"Is he going to be all right?" Echo asked.

"No, I doubt he will be for some time." I replied softly. "He's lost everything, as have I."

"The poor child." She said as she threw an extra blanket over him.

"Won't you get in trouble for healing us?" I asked.

Echo shrugged. "There are no rules stating I can't."

I must say, I had come to gain a new respect towards Echo that day. She was filled with compassion and integrity. I admired her for those qualities and I'm sure that is why many of the other soldiers did as well. I owed her for what she did for me that day, and I would try my best to pay her back.

((Author's Note: That was the last chapter I wrote for Legend of Night. I hope you enjoyed having the chance to look into the mind of Kaede. The sequel to Legacy of Chaos is coming out soon, so look for _Generation of Unity_.))


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